The Worst Prisoner: The Element of Change
by emletish
Summary: What if Zuko had been the one to save Sokka in the storm? What if crazy fate and a series of poor life choices threw four kids together? Can enemies ever become friends? A Zuko joins the Gaang accidentally in season1 story. A shenanigan-filled fic about unlikely friendship, stupidity and sarcasm. Also Zutara romance and drama! AU, canon divergent from season 1.
1. the storm

The Storm

 _I can't believe this is how I die,_ Sokka thought to himself with great disgruntlement as the ocean surged wildly around him. He clung to the wooden side of the ship and tried to clamp down on his panic. The ocean tossed their vessel angrily, waves battering the sides with tremendous force. He looked to the horizon, vainly hoping to see Appa's shaggy head and any possibility of rescue – even though he knew it was hopeless. The spirits had never liked him that much. He'd never been that lucky. Instead he saw the eye of the storm, a small oasis of calm air - but it was too far and too late. Their boat had sustained too much damage to be able to sail it and seek refuge.

He glanced behind him and saw the Fire Nation boat close by, also been tossed hopelessly about. _Good, at least their coming down with us_ Sokka thought bitterly, as a deafening crack echoed overhead and the sky was lit with a brilliant white light. The lightning illuminated an incredible wave bearing down hungrily on the fishing boat. The force of the water was too strong and though Sokka clung with all his might, it was not enough. He heard the old fisherman frantically call out for him as he was swept overboard.

The water was so churned up that Sokka couldn't tell which was was up or down. _Now I really am done for!_ He thought, and allowed himself a moment to feel so sad and sorry for himself. Sokka was a pragmatic, he was a realist. He knew his chances of survival now had greatly diminished. But still, he struggled on. Another flash of lighting showed him the surface above. He swam with all his strength, breaking through with a loud gasped for air.

He could just make out the shadow of the other ship, lurching from the impact of the waves, just before the current pulled him under again, turning him round and round underneath the surface until he was dizzy and his lungs were bursting for air. His head was pounding. Without any new lightning, Sokka couldn't make out where the surface was. He felt dread deep in his heart. He didn't want to die. He was too young to die. This was such a stupid way for him to die! If only he'd been a water-bender like Katara, or had a flying bison like Aang. He thought of Katara and Aang, waiting for him to come home tomorrow and felt his heart crack. _Who would look after those idiots now?_

The last thing Sokka knew was being gripped by a pair of strong arms around him. Then everything went dark.

-o-

The first thing Sokka knew was the feeling of someone pushing on his chest, in short, sharp jabs.

Then his nose was pinched and a pair of warm lips clamped down over his and hot air was forced into his mouth. It made Sokka feel like coughing and vomiting at the same time. He felt his whole chest heaving as he spluttered out a large volume of water. He coughed hard enough for it to wrack his whole body. A firm hand rolled him over onto his side, while the other pounded his back, forcing more water out.

"Try and cough it all out" a raspy voice commanded, and Sokka froze (not just from the cold). He knew that voice.

"Zuko?" He spluttered incredulously, as he rolled over. He was saved from the water by Zuko, of all people?

Zuko's one good eye widened in surprise. "The water-tribe idiot?" he asked, equally incredulous.

"Did you just kiss me?" Sokka asked, appalled. He had so many questions, but this was the first one to slip out. It seemed the most important at the time.

-0-

"Did you just kiss me?" The kid asked, looking as disgusted as Zuko felt. He had...technically. They'd had lip-to-lip contact after all. He'd had his lips on that filthy peasant. Gross. The kid turned around and started wiping his mouth savagely and Zuko felt compelled to do the same.

"No! It was not a kiss." Zuko shouted back angrily. "You'd stopped breathing, you moron. It was the kiss of life!" he explained.

"It was a kiss!" the moron said, while pointing at him accusingly, looking aghast.

Zuko made an indecipherable noise of frustration. He'd just done some daring heroics. He'd climbed up the ladder in the middle of a very intense storm, saved the helmsman. Then the little fishing boat had capsized. The old fisherman had been able to grasp the life preserver they'd thrown over. They'd seen somebody else go overboard into the swell. Zuko had (unthinkingly, he admitted to himself) tied the rope around his waist and jumped over as soon as he saw a head break through the surface close to the ship. He'd swam down, pulled the kid out and resuscitated him and.. _.this_ was the thanks he was going to get!

Monkey feathers, the spirits hated him.

"It was not a kiss!" he yelled, but right before he was going to lurch into a full blown explanation of life-saving techniques to this imbecile, the ship lurched violently again, from another wave. They'd managed to get into the eye of the storm, but they were in no way out of danger yet. Zuko had more important shit to do that argue with an idiot peasant who couldn't even say a proper thank you. He jerked the idiot up by the arm and pulled him along to the door.

"Take him to the brig with the other one!" he commanded, before he pushed the kid through, slamming the door behind him.

-0-

Katara held on to Appa's saddle tightly, as they frantically struggled against the storm. They had searched high and low for Sokka's boat, to no avail. The winds, which had been increasing in strength, had now become a howling maelstrom. Appa ducked and dived, growling from the effort of fighting the storm. Aang looked at her with wide, worried eyes.

"The storm is getting too strong for Appa." He shouted, trying to be heard over the wind. They had been searching for hours, but the dark clouds and the violent swell had made it impossible to see much detail on the surface of the ocean, though Katara held on to hope that the brightness of Sokka's blue water tribe wear would help him stand out.

-0-

Sokka had been unceremoniously thrust into a small metal room. The door slammed and the lock clicked.

"Hang on to something in there" the guard said, before the stomping of his shoes departing indicated he was hurrying away, presumably to do some nasty jerk duties. Judging from the noise and activity as well as the way the ship was rocking, this seemed to be an all-hands-on-deck situation.

Hanging on to something did, however, turn out to be very helpful advice – rather than a veiled threat as Sokka had first assumed. He felt the ship under his feet roll dramatically. The world tilted, and Sokka, unprepared for the sudden lurch, flailed his arms and fell painfully on his arse.

"Ah, still alive I see" observed a harsh voice from the corner. The old fisherman was here, arms wrapped around what looked like a very sturdy pole, face tinged green. Sokka staggered his way over to the old man and tried to grab some of the pole, but the fisherman shoved him away.

"Oi, this is my pole- get your own." He grumbled, gesturing to the other side of the room.

There was an identical pole over there, but Sokka didn't want to go near it. It had evil firebender manacles on it and Sokka wasn't going within 10 paces of those. He said as much before he tried shoving the fisherman back, and wedging his arms nearer to the safe, non-manacled pole. The fisherman responded by throwing up on him. Possibly because this storm was enough to make anyone seasick – more likely he did it to be spiteful. He was a mean old guy, after all.

Sokka tried to shake the vomit off as best he could, then went over the the manacled pole with an exaggerated sigh and lamented his lot. Sokka knew he had a tendency towards sarcasm and exaggeration. He had previously claimed that many days had been the worst day in his life – but this one was definitely it. Today was the easily the worst day. Today beat out being nearly buried by gennamite while Bumi made terrible puns, being stuck in the wacko-spiritworld and all days relating to that jerk Jet.

Today he had come to realise that no only would their water-tribe money be increasingly refused the further into the earth kingdom they got, but that they probably didn't have enough to make it to the north pole anyway with their current pace and Aang's spending habits. They were going to be fresh outta cash, and soon! Judging from Grumpy Old Mate's reception of Aang, they wouldn't always be able to rely on the Avatar card to get them fed and housed. Sokka, as a good male provider, had volunteered to work for the world's most grumpy old guy, while Katara and Aang lounged it up, blithely unaware.

He then had to spend an entire day with the grumpiest old guy doing a great deal more manual labour than he would have liked, been hit in the head with slimy fish more times than he thought was necessary. Then they were hit by the worst storm he had ever seen. The entirety of their catch wash over the side, and with it Sokka's chance at being paid. Then the fish were followed by Sokka himself.

He'd drowned. He could have died. He nearly died today.

He'd been saved from dying by a fire-bender. Icy balls, he'd been saved by the Prince of all fire-benders. Frozen balls, he'd been kissed by a fire-bender. He now knew what Prince Zuko's lips felt like on his face. He'd never unknow this. It was in his brain.

This made a Fire-bender his second kiss.

At least Suki had been his first kiss. Ah Suki. Why couldn't she be here to save him from drowning with the kiss of life? But that would mean she would have been stuck on a Fire Nation ship – and he'd never wish that on her.

Sokka was now stuck on a Fire Nation ship, clinging to a manacled prison pole and covered in vomit – and it wasn't even his own vomit! Though if this storm didn't die down soon, his own vomit was going to be added to the mix. Thankfully, the relentless rocking subsided. Sokka had a brief moment to feel happy that they were through the worst of it.

"Prince Zuko will see you now" announced of voice from the door.

Damnit! The worst was yet to come!

Zuko strode in, caught one whiff of the vomit smell, made a disgusted face, then promptly strode back out. Sometime later, a quartet of guards arrived, with fresh clothes, Fire Nation black of course. They were clean, warm and dry. Sokka refused them on principle. He put on a big hooha about not wearing dirty Fire Nation clothes. One of the guards raised an eyebrow.

"You do realise you are covered in vomit right now, don't you?" he asked, with what Sokka reckoned was an unnecessarily snide tone.

"No, that had completely escaped my notice!" Sokka said with a roll of his eyes. The guard gaped at him, as if he had never had anyone be sarcastic to him before. Then his expression changed, becoming pissed off.

"Put them on, or I'll set your vomit rags on fire, with or without you in them." He hissed.

Sokka put them on. He was sarcastic, but he wasn't stupid. Fire-benders were _dangerous,_ and he wasn't going to be saved from drowning only to go down fighting over vomit clothes. That was not the hill he wanted to die on.

-o-

Zuko sat next to his Uncle, sipping the calming tea that he didn't even need. He was completely calm! He was just excited. Finally something good had come out of the lava-cluster that was Zuko's life. The storm had been terrible and the damage to his ship severe, but from that he had managed to pull an associate of the Avatar's out of the ocean.

The law of the sea dictated than anyone who didn't do what they could to save fellow travellers during storms would be severely punished by the spirits. Zuko didn't have the best of luck to begin with, and he didn't want to give the spirits any excuse to heap more bad luck on him.

Zuko was a good swimmer. It had only taken a moment. It wasn't that reckless. Uncle didn't need to carry on the way he did about it. It had seemed like the right thing to do. The idiot was stupid and annoying, but that wasn't any reason to let him drown.

Zuko knew this buffoon could help him get the Avatar. He was sure the Avatar would come for his friend. That made the buffoon ideal as bait. He'd gone down to the brig to ask a few questions but had been assaulted by the worst smell. Vomit. Zuko was a sympathetic vomiter. Just the smell of it was enough to make him toss his noodles. While he never gave up without a fight, he had to beat a hasty retreat.

His Uncle had suggested a change of clothes for their "guests" - as he referred to them, and that they invite the two up to his quarters for tea. According to Uncle, it was common courtesy to treat those rescued at sea respectfully, or misfortune would plague the rude host. Misfortune already plagued Zuko, but he felt it would be unhelpful to point his out to his Uncle again.

The old man came in first, followed by the grumpy looking water-tribe buffoon then by the guards. The buffoon glared at Zuko with intense dislike.

"Welcome to our ship. I am happy to see you have both recovered from your ordeal. Please sit. " Uncle began amiably while gesturing to the cushions. "Take some tea with us. It is a jasmine blend that will help restore body and spirit." The old man sat happily.

The Water-tribe buffoon sat opposite with a huff, his eyes still narrowed mistrustfully. He refused the tea and folded his arms angrily, the very image of a sullen teenager. Zuko knew a lot about being a sullen teenager. Now that he could see him up close and in proper light, he realised the buffoon was older than Zuko had originally guessed. He was probably closer to Zuko's age than the Avatar's.

"This is my nephew, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation and I am General Iroh of..." Uncle began introductions.

"Oh spirits have mercy! The Dragon of the West!" a wail of dismay escaped the fisherman and his eyes grew to the size of saucers, and he threw himself on the floor next to Uncle. "Please don't disembowel me with flaming knives, or set my whole body on fire while my weeping wife watches, or..."

What in Koh's lair was he going on about? Uncle didn't do those things. Nobody did those things.

"We mean you no harm. We only wanted to ask which port you set out from, so that we can return you there, as the law of the sea dictates." Uncle cut in.

The old man openly gaped at them in confusion and lifted his head slightly. "You mean you don't want to cook me over your fires, then feast on my flesh."

"No!" Zuko insisted angrily, before adding "So gross! Who _does_ that?" He was aghast.

"We just wanted to know which port you are from and what your association is with this young man." Iroh said, maintaining a calm and affable tone.

The old man turned to the buffoon, before turning back to his Uncle, saying in a rush. "I don't know him. I only met him this morning and he was desperate for the money. He begged me to take him. I needed a young nubile boy to..."

"That's enough, thank you." Uncle said firmly, his voicing losing all veneer of friendliness as he looked in horror at the old man. Zuko was also looking between the old man and the young buffoon with revulsion. Had the young buffoon let that old guy... use him? For money? He exchanged a revolted look with his uncle.

"It's not what it sounds like. He needed me to help him haul in the fishing nets. I was helping him with fishing... On the fishing boat...Where we were fishing. " The Water-tribe boy cut in quickly, blushing a furious red. He seemed to understand what the old guy said had sounded like to Zuko and his Uncle. He was clearly embarrassed. "We came from Harbour town." he added before turning away.

"Tell Lieutenant Jee to set a course for Harbour Town. You two - bring the old man up to the top deck." Zuko said as he turned to the guards. "You two, help me escort this one back to the brig." He said, gesturing towards the Water-tribe buffon.

"Why are we being separated?" the buffoon asked angrily as they started down the hall.

"Did you want to hang out with the old pervert?" Zuko asked.

"No!"

"Okay then." Zuko said with a shrug.

"Oi, Jerk. Am I being taken back to the harbour too?" the buffoon asked.

Zuko bristled at his attitude and tone. Zuko was a prince! Zuko had just saved this asshole! He felt that these two things entitled him to a little more respect – not this endless parade of hostility. "I know manners probably haven't made it down south yet...but I just saved you, less than 12 hours ago. Maybe a _thank you_ would be in order."

"Thank you?" the Buffoon mouthed incredulously, before yelling. "Screw you! I'm not thanking you for throwing me in prison!"

The two had initially been put in the brig because it was one of the only empty spaces on his ship where they would have been safe from being injured during the jostling of the storm. But he wasn't going to tell the buffoon that. The Wani was too small to accommodate idle guest quarters. Zuko had made use of every inch available. Still, he felt a wave of shame and anger wash through him. His father had given him the oldest, smallest, and most dilapidated vessel in the fleet, barely fit for rats, let alone a prince.

Perhaps the state of the Wani meant that his father believed he would be able to accomplish the task with only minimal resources. Surely, his father hadn't intended it as an insult or to humiliate him further. Zuko told himself that it was all just part of the challenge of getting his honour back.

"Listen peasant - it wasn't easy saving your life you know! I didn't have to dive in to get you. I could have just let you drown!" He fired back angrily, pushing that old hurt aside.

"Why didn't you? It doesn't make sense. Especially if you think I'm such a worthless peasant. It makes no sense to risk your life for mine." The buffoon asked, only slightly less hostile.

Zuko stopped and stared at him, before looking away quickly. Truthfully, he hadn't really thought that deeply. _You were reckless_ his uncle had said. Everyone had been busy on deck trying to secure the ship, and Zuko panting from the effort of helping the helmsman down, had held to the side railing and tried to catch his breath. It was from that vantage point that he saw the buffoon go under. He'd been the only one looking. The only one close. The bright blue of the buffoon's shirt had been sinking.

Zuko'd grabbed the rope and tied it around his waist and jumped, simply because he could save someone and it felt wrong not to. It felt wrong to just watch someone drown.

He couldn't just tell the buffon that. He couldn't say "I did it because it was the right thing to do". He heard Azula's voice in his head. _That's the stupidest reason I've ever heard Zuzu – you really are an idiot._ It made him sound naïve and weak, and he knew that.

-o-

"Oh, I see. You're too high and mighty answer me!" Sokka said, feeling pissed off.

The angry jerk was just looking off to the side, ignoring him – which was fine by Sokka. He didn't need an answer from this asshole. Who cares what his motives were? Not Sokka!

It was just so weird though. A firebender had saved him and Sokka didn't know how to feel about it. Sokka wasn't stupid. He would be dead right now, if it hadn't been for this jerk. Sokka felt grateful for each lungful of air since being pulled out of the sea, but he'd be damned to the hottest hell if he ever said thank you to a firebender.

"Rule of the sea. Everyone knows you must help vessels in trouble, otherwise you'll be cursed by the spirits, you idiot." the Angry jerk said angrily, after a long beat. That didn't track for Sokka. He couldn't associate fire-benders with any kind of moral code. There had to be some kind of devious ulterior motive.

"I don't buy it. You've got some evil plot brewing. There's no way you're just dropping us off back at port." Sokka said accusingly.

"The old guy is being dropped off. He is going to take a message to the Avatar for me." The jerk replied as the door to the brig opened.

"What message?" Sokka asked as he was pushed in.

"That we have his buffoon in prison." The jerk said as he slammed the door closed. "If the Avatar wants you, he'll have to come and get you."

"Hey! I'm not acting as bait in a trap for Aang!" Sokka yelled back, beating on the door, but feeling strangely vindicated.

Ah ha! There it was. The evil ulterior motive Sokka needed. He knew a firebender would never do anything from the goodness of his heart. Sokka wasn't even entirely convinced firebenders had hearts. He didn't have to feel any disgruntled gratitude to this jerk.

"Let me go, asshole!" He yelled through the hole in the door. It had once been a glass porthole, but had broken during the storm. His voice sounded so loud reverberating of the metal of the ship. _Asshole...asshole...asshole_ echoed down the corridor. The jerk turned and stomped back to the door.

"Wow, calling me an asshole has changed my mind completely!" He said with a roll of his eyes.

What a sarcastic jerk!

Sokka felt affronted. Being a sarcastic jerk was his thing!

Sokka quickly resolved to beat this jerk at his own game. He could be more sarcastic, more annoying and a bigger asshole than that jerk bender. If he was going to be used as bait and kept prisoner – fine! But he wasn't going to make it easy for the angry jerk.

Oh no.

He was going to be the worst prisoner ever. He'd make that sarcastic jerk regret ever locking him up!

-0-

" _Ding dang, Ding dang dong! This is my annoying sooooong. Everybody sing along._

 _Shalalalalala – aaaaaaaaaaaah!"_ echoed loudly all around Zuko.

The idiot had been singing for at least 3 hours now. The idiot was tone deaf. His singing voice harsh. However there was a definite tune. That made it worse. The tune had gotten stuck in Zuko's head. At first, Zuko had been determined to just ignore it – to show it wasn't getting to him, but you could head that blasted song all over the ship. He was going down to shut the bastard up, for everyone's collective sanity.

He stomped along the hall, his patience thin. The annoying song momentarily stopped in favour of affected, disgusting coughing. Frozen hell, the noises that imbecile was making were so gross. It sounded like he was trying to cough up a lung. He obviously knew how people hated that hacking sound, because he was doing it more and more frequently.

Zuko burst into the room and was tackled from the side by the imbecile. Zuko easily threw him off, and he landed hard on the floor in an inelegant tangle of limbs. He looked up, his blue eyes narrowed and his gaze was on the still open door behind Zuko. Surely he wasn't trying a poorly planned and executed escape attempt? No one would be that stupid.

Except this imbecile - he was that stupid.

The oaf seemed determined to live down to Zuko's lowest expectations. He tried again, jumping up and rushing Zuko ineptly and yelling incomprehensibly. Zuko neatly caught his arm and twirled it round his back, using his free had to put the oaf in a choke hold. It had been too easy.

"Do you yeild?" he asked. The oaf nodded. Zuko let him go, but kept his arms up defensively. The oaf stumbled away from him. "Don't try again." Zuko warned.

"Why – you scared I'll win?" he spat angrily at Zuko.

Zuko threw his head back and laughed loudly at the very idea. He would have been able to beat this imbecile blindfolded, with both hands behind his back. His laughter seemed to enrage the imbecile, who made a furious howl as he charged again. Zuko nonchalantly turned around to shut the door, then lowered his shoulder and flipped the imbecile on his back.

"Look, you're never going to win. I'm too good." Zuko goaded, standing over him, by this point almost half hoping the oaf would try again. After all the frustrations and annoyances this oaf had heaped on him, it felt oddly satisfying to push him around. Over and over again, the oaf tried to get past him

Zuko had so few sparring opportunities where he felt completely confident with his abilities and secure of his victory. Uncle was always trying to keep him to the basics, and though he'd won the Agni Kai against Zhao, it had been awful. He remembered that point when he'd fallen, and the rush of fear he'd felt, the rising panic. Fighting this oaf was cathartic for the soul.

He was hopeless, untrained, inept – so easily beaten. Though he never stayed down for long. He was determined, Zuko had to give him that. He kept trying anyway, a further 18 times before he relented. Zuko had pressed him against the metal floor, one hand holding him in place, while the other wrenched his arm back and held him in a wrist lock. He felt all the fight and struggle go out of his opponent as he sagged onto the floor.

"I yeild" he heard the oaf say softly, defeated and resigned. He was clearly exhausted from his ill-timed, ill-judged and ill-executed attacks. Zuko let him up and he scrambled away to slump against the wall, forlorn and sad. He didn't start singing again, didn't have any sarcastic quips. He looked heartbroken and hopeless.

Zuko felt an itch in his heart. He tried his best not to scratch. This water-tribe youth was close to him in age, but completely untrained as far as Zuko could tell. It hadn't been a fair fight and Zuko knew it. He'd been training since a child, but no one had even taught the oaf even the basics. Zuko had humiliated him.

 _Don't feel sorry for him,_ a voice in his head that sounded like Azula urged, _that's weak and pathetic. The idiot attacked you, he brought this on himself. You could punish him so horribly for it._ Zuko knew he probably should. It would be what was expected. Azula or Zhao would do it. Still, he recoiled from the idea of hurting an unarmed, defeated opponent.

Azula always had a cruel streak. He remembered being paired against her by his father, after she had risen two firebending levels above him. He remembered how hard he tried, how easily she beat him, how unfair it seemed, how she seemed to enjoy toying with him. Hadn't he been doing exactly that to the oaf? It made him feel bad.

He didn't want to be like Azula and do that to other people.

"Hey,..." He began coaxingly, trying to search his memory for the oaf's name. "…. it's Sokka, right?" he asked. Sokka glanced up at the mention of his name but didn't correct him.

"Sokka... look..." He trailed off. He certainly wasn't going to apologise to the annoying bastard. But he felt bad all the same. He'd beaten up a kid who didn't even have a correct stance. He could start there. "You're stance is absolutely terrible. It's the worst I've ever seen." He began, encouragingly. Sokka looked very offended.

"Excuse me?" He asked, eyes wide, sounding annoyed.

"You're making it too easy for an opponent to take you off balance. That's why I beat you every time." Zuko explained as he reached out his hand and pulled the other boy up. Sokka stared at him in great confusion, not saying anything.

"You've got to plant your feet like this." Zuko demonstrated briefly, and Sokka copied. "No. Like this... more like you're a big stubborn jackass." Zuko corrected, then he couldn't help but add "...That shouldn't be too hard for you".

"You are such a jerk." Sokka said, dropping his stance.

"Look, I'm just trying to help you out. That display was pathetic." Zuko replied harshly.

"Maybe you only won because I'm getting sick. If I was healthy I would have beaten you easily." Sokka said acidly, before he began another fake coughing fit. Similar to the ones he'd been doing all morning just to annoy everyone. He was really milking it too – completely doubled over and coughing so hard his shoulders shook.

Zuko raised an eyebrow"You don't really expect me to fall for the 'sick prisoner' routine after you've been trying to escape for the last hour?" he asked, irritated. Sokka continued to cough dramatically.

"I'm not falling for it." Zuko said as he turned to go. Still Sokka didn't drop the act, and that more than anything else peeved Zuko. He hadn't been born yesterday. This whole display was an insult to his intelligence.

"Exactly how stupid do you think I am?" Zuko asked angrily from the door.

"Pretty stupid." Sokka gasped between coughing fits, before he promptly fell to the floor.

-o-

Aang and Katara had searched high and low for the most of the morning and had been unable to find Sokka or any trace of the fishing vessel. Yesterday they had flown through the eye of the storm and reached the safe air above. Appa had refused the fly back under into the raging storm. Aang had insisted he need a rest and they would set out again at first light. Besides, maybe Sokka had made it back to the harbour. When they had gotten back into the harbour however, there had been no signs of the fishing vessel. They had spoken to the fisherman's wife, found out the fisherman's usual spots and set off again after Appa had a brief rest and the storm had died down. But the longer the search went on, the more Katara felt her heart sink in her chest. Still, she refused to give up hope.

-o-

Sokka was lying on a soft comfortable bed somewhere warm. For a moment he had no idea where he was. He could smell something herbal, and hear a muffled conversation nearby. He opened one eye a tiny slit to examine his surroundings. He seemed to be in a bigger room than the holding cell. It had a few beds along the wall, bolted into place. Shelves were full of jars and supplies. There was a man sitting on the far bed while and second man examined his arm, tutting to himself.

"Well, this seems to be healing nicely, however you will still need two weeks to recover. I'll recommend no active duty to Prince Zuko."

The man snorted angrily, and said something about not being in the storm in the first place if it wasn't for Zuko.

The doctor chiding him, saying if it wasn't for Prince Zuko, the injured man would be dead. The injured man expressed a great deal of disgruntlement at being saved by Zuko. Sokka had never felt such kinship with someone from the Fire Nation before - but the man was right. Being saved by Zuko sucked!

The Doctor disagreed, and said he'd come around to the Angry Jerk after hearing how he really got his scar. He'd felt kind of sorry for him since then. It explained why he was such a difficult person most of the time. The injured man didn't know what the doctor was talking about.

"Look, you can't tell anyone I told you. General Iroh said it had to stay secret..." Sokka had to wonder. Surely the General knew that whenever you said "Don't tell anyone else" - precious few people could resist the urge to go blabbing. This doctor seemed to love a good gossip. He got up, check out in the hallway, then closed the door. He came over to check on Sokka, who promptly feigned sleep.

"So last night, before the storm hit, some of us were in the hold, complaining about the Prince. Then General Iroh came out from the shadows. We thought it'd be our necks, you know. But instead the General sat down and told us the real reason why were are in this rust-bucket of a ship and the real reason behind this blasted Avatar finding mission..."

Sokka's curiosity was piqued. He listened with growing astonishment at what the doctor was saying. The Angry Jerk had stood up for some soldiers, and then his father...Sokka suppressed a shudder when the doctor described the official jerk bending fire-fight. The Angry Jerk had been tricked, and had to fight his own father in what sounded like a brutal fight-to-the-death type situation. Sokka couldn't even imagine how awful that would be. Despite himself, Sokka felt his stomach curl in disgust. Something that felt horribly like sympathy rose in his chest.

He'd always thought Firelord Ozai was possibly the worst person who had ever lived, and this just confirmed it. What kid of a father would do that to their child? Sokka's father would never...

What would dad do in this situation? He certainly wouldn't lie here, pretending to be asleep and feeling sorry for a fire bender.

Oh no, Dad would lie here, pretending to be asleep and come up with a cunning plan to escape!

-o-

When Katara and Aang made it back to the harbour docks, they were surprised to find the old fisherman man waiting for them. He waved them over and relayed a message to them. Katara turned what he'd said over in her head. The Fisherman had said that the ship had pulled straight back out to sea, after dropping him off. They were waiting for Aang to come and get Sokka.

"Look Aang, I don't know if we should just follow them – it could be a trap..." she said slowly.

"Of course it's a trap girly, I just told you it was a trap. So do with that what you will" The fisherman interjected. Katara and Aang both ignored him.

"...We can't leave Sokka in Zuko's evil fire-bender clutches either." Katara added quickly.

"He don't want him in his clutches. Your brother is super annoying!" The fisherman snorted.

" Maybe we don't go out to sea to meet them. We wait for them to come into land. All ships need to come in sometime" Aang said hopefully.

"Oh, trust me. It'll need to come in sooner, rather than later. That ship took some damage in the storm." The Old fisherman interrupted again.

"So it comes in...while they are busy repairing the ship... we can create a diversion. A big diversion. Then we can get Sokka." Katara began thinking aloud. She looked around the tiny harbour. Zuko's ship was large. It didn't look like this harbour would have the means to repair it.

"Where's the nearest port that could provide repairs to a ship of that size?" She turned and asked the fisherman, who was still listening in.

"That'd be Pouhai" the fisherman said with certainty.

Aang and Katara set off for Pouhai immediately. Tossing around for ideas for "Operation Rescue Sokka." As they were talking, Katara noticed her voice growing more and more husky. She started coughing. Her head began feeling heavy and foggy. Aang grew increasingly concerned, his eyes wide. Katara tried her best to reassure him, but her whole body was sore and she was shivering all over.

She must have been getting sick from being out so long in the storm, searching relentlessly. Her determination to find her brother had caused her to just ignore the rain and the cold. Aang had been able to warm himself using an air-bending technique, which must have made all the difference, because he wasn't even slightly sick. He just looked young and lost and worried.

Aang landed quickly, near some old ruins, some distance from Pouhai. He helped her down and tried his best to make her comfortable. He wrapped her in blankets, instructed Appa and Momo to look after her.

"Katara, stay here. I'll go get some medicine for you." He said after a moment.

"Be careful!" she managed to croak out, before illness and exhaustion claimed her and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

-0-

Zuko paced around his room, lost in thought. It didn't make sense. He thought the Avatar had cared for the annoying oaf Sokka. He thought his sister would definitely want him back – or perhaps they both found Sokka annoying too. Maybe he sang _the annoying song_ around them as well and they were glad to be rid of him.

Zuko had received a rumour that the Avatar's bison had been seen flying in the direction of Pouhai. Zuko had given the fisherman clear instructions and directions, but now the Avatar had evidently chosen to go to Pouhai instead, and leave Sokka. He felt a little sad on Sokka's behalf, to be just abandoned by your sister and friend. That was rough.

He felt a little sorry for Sokka, but not nearly as sorry as he felt for himself. Zuko never got a break. He'd had another full day of _the annoying song_ for nothing! Sokka had recovered after the ship's doctor began ministering a linctus made from frogs. Zuko had enjoyed telling the oaf all the ingredients he had swallowed. He'd been moved back to the brig and persisted in being annoying for the whole day.

Zuko had put off the repairs to the ship for far too long. As soon as they heard word of the Avatar moving north, he'd set the course for Pouhai. He was puzzling over what to do with Sokka. . His gamble hadn't paid off. Perhaps he should just put Sokka off the boat in Pouhai for all of their collective sanity – before somebody strangled the him.

However, Sokka seemed fiercely loyal and protective the the Avatar and his sister. He had seemed surprised that they wouldn't come to get him. This made Zuko pause. When Zuko had expressed his frustration that Sokka still hadn't been collected, and the other boy had smirked slightly. Muttered something that sounded like 'too smart for you.'

Perhaps that was it.

Zuko had counted on their feelings getting the better of them, and had thought they would rush in to perform a daring rescue. However, maybe it had been too obviously a trap. Still, anyone who deliberately broke into a prison barge to make an emotional speech about hope clearly functioned more on impulse than logic. Now he realised he had underestimated Avatar and the Water-tribe girl.

They were approaching Pouhai now, and that gave Zuko something to look forward too. When they were docked, he would have a chance to sneak out as the Blue Spirit. They'd be docked here for several nights, he thought with anticipation, as he carefully lifted the mask out of it's hiding place. The Blue Spirit gave him the chance to temporarily leave behind the lava-cluster that was his life.

He'd started doing it just to get _away,_ then the Blue Spirit had proven useful in gathering information, and then he hadn't been able to stop himself. He did it every time they docked _._ Nobody hated, or ridiculed the Blue Spirit. The Blue Spirit had never lost his honour or been given an impossible task to restore it. The Blue Spirit wasn't heartbreakingly lonely. Zuko loved being him, if only for a little while.

There was a knock at his door and Zuko quickly slammed his trunk shut. "Come in." He called out.

His Uncle popped in his head, with an unreadable look on his face.

"Prince Zuko, we have just received another important message from the newly appointed Admiral Zhao." He said, sounding strangely solemn. Zhao's gloating missives had become a common occurrence. Zuko had been one of the first people he'd written to, upon being promoted. He'd always loved rubbing Zuko's face in it.

Zuko snatched the letter away from his Uncle, ripped it open and began to read.

-o-

Sokka had anxiously waited until all the commotion had died down. He was alone in the brig, his old clothes restored to him after they had been cleaned. One of the best things about his water tribe parka was all the pockets, he thought as he slid out the long, thin metal tongs he'd taken from the medical room. He'd slipped them into his shoes while the doctor, who had assumed he was asleep, had been pottering about with the herbs.

This morning Zuko had come to check on him and woken him up. Sokka was extravagantly grumpy about this. Zuko was even grumpier back. There had been sarcasm. Zuko pointed out that Sokka had eaten frog guts. Sokka had been rude and unhelpful again. Zuko had declared that he was the worst prisoner, which Sokka took as huge point of pride.

Then Zuko had asked a lot of questions and muttered about how it didn't make sense that Katara and Aang hadn't come to try and get Sokka yet. Sokka felt something warm bloom in his chest. His sister hadn't fallen for the ridiculously obvious trap – instead she had embraced his paranoia in his absence. Katara was way too smart for Zuko.

Sokka had then been moved back here and he'd been biding his time, singing _the annoying song_ out the window. The song had covered the noise of him fiddling with the lock. He'd been able to wiggle and bend the metal to fit into the keyhole. Sokka had never picked a lock like this before and it had been taking him ages. He'd been interrupted many times, by the sounds of footsteps. Sokka would quickly hide his makeshift key then press his ear against the cool metal and try his best to listen. He'd gleaned snippets of alarming conversation, from passing jerk-benders.

They were talking about the fact that Zhao had caught the Avatar, and discussing what would happen to them now. Would they still have to stay with Prince Zuko? He hadn't given them an order for hours. Did that mean they'd get to go home? Prince Zuko only got to go home if he caught the Avatar himself, and that was plainly impossible now.

"What happens to songbird?" One had asked as they passed the brig. Sokka looked up to see two faces looking at him through the broken window.

"Well, Zhao's requested him to be brought up to the stronghold tomorrow, so he can be imprisoned with the Avatar. But if he tries that annoying singing stuff with Zhao..." The jerkbender drew his finger across his throat in a thin line and made a slicing noise, before departing. Sokka's eyes had widened in horror.

Zhao had caught Aang? How? He was being kept in a stronghold. What had happened to Katara? No one had mentioned her – so she must still be out there. Sokka felt a tiny bit of relief. At least nothing had happened to her. The relief didn't last long. Sokka' situation was still very dire.

Zuko wouldn't just hand him over to Zhao, would he?

Zhao would kill him! Zuko, for all that he was an evil jerkbender, was surprisingly not-homicidal. Un-homicidal? Whatever. Sure, he got shouty and angry. Sure, he stomped about, but Sokka had quickly figured out Zuko's bark was much worse than his bite. He'd not hurt Sokka at all. Well, he'd roughed him up a bit, that first day, when Sokka had tried attacking him, but nothing since then.

This, admittedly, had not been Sokka's finest hour on the planning front. He blamed the fever to be honest. Feverish Sokka thought charging and tackling the fire-bender was the best plan ever. Zuko had easily overpowered him, over and over again.

Sokka had exhausted himself and had withdrawn to the wall, trying to gather up his courage to face what he had assumed would be a horrible punishment. He'd just attacked the Prince of the Jerkbenders, and he felt sure that he was about to have his face burned off, or something equally horrible. But then...

Sokka must have been really sick at the time. He'd obviously been getting delirious, because he thought he remembered Zuko helping him up, insulting his fighting stance and showing him a better one.

He began to concentrate on the lock in front of him. He needed to get out of here. Aang needed him.

They'd pulled into the dock a little while ago. Sokka felt the engines stop. He heard the noises of a bustling port. He waited till most of the crew were asleep. He was going to sneak out and make his way to this stronghold.

He'd have come up with a plan to save his friend and find his sister. His head was much clearer, since the doctor had fed him the horrible frog concoction. Sokka hated to admit it, but it had actually really helped. He felt so much better now. He'd be able to come up with a better plan. He was sure of it. They were counting on him.

His lock clicked, finally. Sokka slid the door open as silently as he could. He crept on tip-toes down the hall. His progress was slow, but eventually he made it to the deck. There was a pair of guards on watch, patrolling around. Sokka waited until they had turned the corner, then ducked low and ran for the gangplank. He landed on the dock, and made a run for some nearby crates. He hid behind them, trying to catch his breath.

He couldn't believe how easy that had been. He'd just made it clear off the ship with no problems. He started sneaking towards the town. He heard footsteps coming towards him - ordered, rhythmic footsteps, marching in time. It must be a fire-bending patrol.

He ducked into the nearest alley. His heart pounding wildly. The footsteps passed and Sokka moved to poke his head around the corner, when suddenly he was grabbed roughly from behind, a strong arm was around his chest and a hand was covering his mouth, muffling his cries completely.

"Going somewhere?" a grumpy voice that had become very familiar rasped harshly in his ear.

Well, crap.

-o-

Zuko would never know what urged him to do it, but he pulled Sokka, the great idiot, back from the edge of revealing himself to Zhao's patrol. Sokka struggled like a giant, pissed-off octopus in his arms.

"Ssssh – another patrol's coming. Idiot. They'll hear us." Zuko whispered.

Sokka stilled. Zuko released him and ducked into a door frame and motioned for him to do that same. The idiot ducked into the door frame opposite and stared at him. They both flattened themselves against the wall as the patrol stomped past. Zhao had tripled patrols in the city, and it was crawling with soldiers.

This was going to be difficult – even without the added complication of the escaped buffoon.

Zuko had made it out of the ship, and was scoping out the town. He'd been counting patrols and their routes, trying to formulate a plan of getting the Avatar back to his ship without being spotted, when he'd seen the idiot running along the docks.

It had pissed Zuko off, seeing the buffoon escape so easily from his ship. How could he hope to keep the Avatar, if he couldn't even keep the buffoon locked up. Too much was slipping through his fingers tonight, and he'd be damned if he couldn't at least keep this idiot prisoner until tomorrow.

"How did you even escape?" he whispered.

"Zuko?" Sokka whispered back, sounding shocked.

"Yes. Idiot. Who else would it be?" Zuko rolled his eyes.

"What are you wearing?" Sokka asked, looking him up and down. Zuko quickly understood Sokka's confusion and groaned inwardly. For once, Sokka wasn't the idiot - Zuko was. He'd revealed himself to this numbskull.

Uncle was right. Zuko never thought things through. He'd seen Sokka escaping and acted on impulse. Sokka was useless to him now. Zuko didn't even need him as a prisoner. How could he act as bait for the Avatar, when Zhao already had the Avatar prisoner?

Zuko really could have let Sokka be caught by Zhao's patrol and continued on his merry way. It would reflect badly on his competence and reputation, that Sokka had escaped him – but that was a lost battle anyway, Zuko thought bitterly. Zuko already knew what the other captains and governors thought of him and his mission.

"What are you doing dressed as a ninja in the middle of the night?" Sokka whispered, interrupting that train of thought.

"It doesn't matter." Zuko replied, and he quickly weighed up what to do now. He needed to get rid of this imbecile. Could he just run for it? He would be much faster than Sokka, he was sure. Sokka had already seen Zuko, which was bad enough – but at least he still didn't know why Zuko had snuck out.

"I know! You're sneaking off to get Aang back from Zhao - so you can catch him yourself!" Sokka hissed, with narrow eyes.

Well, crap.

"No, I'm not?" Zuko replied, trying his best to sound convincing, and kicking himself for being such a idiot. Sokka blinked twice at him, looking unconvinced.

"Look, I wasn't born yesterday. Can you at least try lying with more conviction." He whispered angrily, before declaring "I'm coming with you."

"No!" Zuko hissed back. A frustrated noise escaped him and he clenched his fists in anger. He only had so many hours of dark to climb the hills, break into Pouhai and find and free the Avatar before the sun rose. He had to get rid of Sokka, now.

"Look, this is wasting time. You're not my prisoner any more, so run along now." Zuko made a little dismissive wave with his hand.

Sokka looked very offended at being told to run along. "I am not running along anywhere. I am running along with you to save my friend."

"Seriously Sokka, this is a secret mission. You'd be terrible at this." Zuko said honestly. Couldn't the idiot see how inept he'd be?

"No, I wouldn't." Sokka said loudly, before Zuko held a finger up to his lips to remind him of the need for silence.

"You are the noisiest person I have ever met. You'd be useless to me. " Zuko whispered back. He wasn't trying to be mean. It was the truth. In the time he'd had Sokka in custody, Sokka had done nothing but alternate between accusing Zuko of kissing him, yelling _'Yeeeha -sneak attack'_ or singing _the annoying song._ The only thing Sokka did quietly was be unconscious.

"There's a five minute break between patrols along this street. Then they come two groups close together. If you make a break for that tree line now, you should be able to make it." Zuko whispered, pointing to where the forest started. It was the safest route, but he'd let Sokka take it. Zuko could find another.

Zuko needed to get rid of Sokka, but he also didn't want him to be caught. Sokka had seen him, and knew what he was up to. The last thing he wanted and needed now was for Sokka to be caught by one of Zhao's patrols. What if he blabbed to Zhao's patrols? Zuko would be in such deep shit if that happened.

Sokka looked at the trees, then back to Zuko with narrowed eyes. "If you don't let me come with you, I am going to make the biggest amount of noise, get everyone's attention, ruin this secret mission and tell everyone what you were up to." He threatened.

What the hell?

That fucking bastard!

"Fine! You can come." Zuko hissed angrily, hating his life, his luck and Sokka all in equal measure.

Zuko readjusted the bag on his shoulders, took a quick look around the corner, then made a dash for the forest. He didn't need to turn around, to know his annoying, loud shadow was behind him. Zuko tried to think up a solution and he moved through the trees.

He couldn't just leave him. Sokka would have been caught before he went more than 2 steps on his own. Zuko couldn't have bopped Sokka on the head and left him unconscious in the alley. He'd be found by Zhao's men, sooner or later. Zuko didn't have time to bop him on the head, then carry him back to holding cell on the ship. He'd never get the idiot back to the brig quietly.

Letting him follow right now was probably the best solution.

-o-

Sokka followed the Prince's indignant backside all the way up the hill. It was amazing how someone could stomp away from him without making a single noise. Zuko was actually a surprisingly good ninja. Sokka tried to copy his movements and step exactly where he did, but he was much less skilful at this.

Zuko would turn around, and hold a finger to the lips of the blue mask he was wearing every time Sokka snapped a twig, or stepped noisily. This occurred frequently. Sokka was sure his expression was furious underneath that mask.

They climbed the ridge line and Sokka saw Pouhai Stronghold for the first time. He couldn't help gasp. It was an imposing, formidable structure, towering above the landscape. Sokka felt dread, deep in his belly.

How could they get Aang out of there!

Zuko gestured for silence again, and they ducked back behind the ridge. Zuko sat with his back against the rocks, and moved his mask up to rub at his face. He looked at the sky, and sighed anxiously, like even he was doubting the wisdom of this course of action. He seemed young then, in the light of the moon. Sokka wondered how old he was. The scar made him look older, but he was probably around Sokka's age.

What Zuko was doing was pretty shady, even by Fire Nation standards. Sokka knew he'd be in huge trouble if he got caught. It would be treason. After what his dad had done to Zuko for simply speaking out of turn, Sokka didn't want to imagine what the consequences for straight up treason would be.

What Zuko was doing was crazy, it was such a huge risk – but still Sokka thought he understood. Zuko needed Aang free so that he could have a chance at going home – and if he needed to break into his own nation's fortress, then so be it. Sokka had to give him props for the sheer balls of it.

"So Aang's somewhere in there?" Sokka whispered. Zuko nodded.

"So how are we going to get Aang back from terrible muttonchops Zhao?" Sokka asked quietly. They were too far away to worry about their voices carrying, but Sokka was still sufficiently paranoid about being caught. Zuko smirked at Sokka calling Zhao muttonchops, but caught himself quickly, his expression becoming serious once more.

" _We_ aren't doing anything. _I'll_ go in by myself and get him." he whispered.

"Hey, I came to help!" Sokka insisted.

"No. You came because you threatened to reveal this whole secret mission to Zhao's soliders." Zuko snapped back, petulantly.

In hindsight, Sokka could understand why Zuko was pissed off about that. It had been a dick move. Sokka was just lucky that Zuko wasn't the homicidal type at all. It hadn't even occurred to him what the easiest way to ensure Sokka's silence would be – or if it had, he hadn't acted on it. Zuko just didn't seem to have cold-blooded murder in him. Sokka had already assumed as much, or he never would have threatened him like that. Still, Sokka felt like a jerk for using that against him.

"Listen, I'm sorry about that. That was a dick move." Sokka whisper, in a tone that would placate even the grumpiest of penguins. Zuko turned to face him, looking shocked. "Look, I just want you know, the secret mission is safe with me, okay. Even if I get caught, I'm not going to turn you over."

Zuko made a very sceptical face. "Why are you being nice to me?" he asked, slowly, sounding extremely confused.

"I think we should call a truce and properly team up. I'm here. You're here. Aang's in there." Sokka said, pointing over the ridge line. "If we work together, we have a much better chance of getting him out."

Zuko did not look convinced.

"I know you think I'm going to be useless and noisy...and you're right. But maybe we can use that to our advantage. I'll create a huge distraction out here, then it'll be easier for you to sneak in and get Aang." Sokka explained. It wasn't a very detailed plan, but it had been the best he could come up with on short notice.

"Why would you even help me?" Zuko asked. "You hate me."

"No, I don't hate you." Sokka said quickly, surprised that it was true. Zuko seemed surprised too. His scowl dropped away and was replaced by a tragically bemused look – as if he couldn't understand someone not hating him.

Sokka couldn't hate Zuko. Sokka didn't trust him. Sokka had no idea what made him tick. But if Sokka had to choose between Zuko and Zhao, Zuko was definitely the lesser of two evils.

That was the crux of the issue really. Right now, that bigger evil had Aang in his clutches. While Sokka inwardly recoiled at the idea of working with a fire-bender, he knew that he would never be able to get Aang out of that fortress on his own. Zuko was here, on this ridge line with him, he had some crazy ninja skills, and he was prepared to risk his life to get Aang out.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Sokka said, and Zuko nodded in response. "We both hate that muttonchops bastard – and he's got Aang. At this exact moment, we have a mutual goal. You don't have to do this alone." Zuko looked thoughtfully at Sokka.

"Our goal is not mutual once the Avatar is out. It's my destiny to capture him" Zuko said hesitantly.

"Once Aang is safely outside that fortress, we will go our separate ways. You can go back to trying to catch him and we'll go back to trying to run away from you." Sokka stated.

He knew Zuko was going to try snatch Aang, and Zuko knew Sokka was going to try and stop him. Even if Zuko did manage to get away with Aang, he'd have to take him back to the ship to be able to get him back to the fire nation. Sokka knew how to escape that ship pretty well.

"We work together, until Aang is past this ridge. Then all bets are off." Sokka said, while holding out his hand. Zuko stared at his hand curiously for a long moment. Sokka waggled it at him, impatiently. "Do we have a deal or not?"

"Deal" Zuko replied, shaking Sokka's hand firmly.

-0-

Author's notes.

Lovely readers! Welcome back. I hope you're well.

It's been a while, I know.

I have returned to my land down under and writing comes so much easier to me here . I do intend to finish my WIPs, I promise. But currently all my creative energy has been eaten by this idea. I love this idea. I hope you will too. This story is actually pretty much completely written, so I will try post a new chapter every week for your enjoyment.

For this story, I will be also be posting at Ao3 and putting my notes on tumblr.

So this story was inspired when I was re-reading the wonderful Kimberly T's "Promises to Keep." Forever favourite, and always one of my go-tos when I am want to read some lovely Zutara. Katara is the bomb in it, and it starts when she is taken prisoner during the waterbending scroll. Anyway, I was reading it and thought to myself "This would go so differently if Sokka had been the one taken prisoner. Sokka would literally be the worst and most annoying person to try and imprison." This idea spouted from there.

There are heaps of fics where someone is taken prisoner (most Katara - my poor baby girl, why is it always you?). There are heaps of Zuko joins the Gaang at a different time fics too - but I have never read a "Zuko is accidentally and stupidly taken prisoner by the Gaang in season 1 fic." So I have decided to remedy that situation. Next chapter there will drama with Pouhai/blue-spirit nonsense and Aang and Katara will have a much bigger role.

Til then my lovelies.


	2. the blue spirit

Zuko opened the backpack he brought, taking out some of the supplies.

Sokka gave a low whistle of appreciation. "Someone's prepared."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know what to expect so I packed anything that could be useful that I could easily carry."

"Smart."

Despite himself, Zuko felt a little smile tugging at the corner of his lips and a warm feeling in his chest. It was the nicest thing that anyone had said to him in such a long time—and wasn't that just tragic.

Agni, his life was depressing.

"What are these?" Sokka asked, holding up some canisters.

"They're small explosives. I was going to use them if I needed to create a diversion."

"Well, this sounds like a job for Sokka."

"We'd have to figure out a way for you to set them off without fire-bending," Zuko said.

Sokka nodded, then looked at the supplies around him for a moment. "I have an idea..."

It wasn't actually a bad idea, Zuko had to concede reluctantly. The other boy had a good head for strategy (even if he stubbornly insisted on giving them stupid code names). Zuko vowed never to answer to Red Rabaroo.

They'd plotted a route using the map that Zuko had brought. Sokka would circle the stronghold and use periodic explosions to draw attention. They talked about ways of Sokka avoiding the Yuyan Archers. The archers were less accurate at night—and through trees—which Sokka was going to use to full advantage. He refused to change out of his Water Tribe blues, though, and pointed out that he wanted to be _seen_ by people in the fortress. Zuko pointed out that it was much more dangerous, but Sokka had countered that if they were looking outside at him, it made it easier and safer for Zuko on the inside.

 _This must be what it's like to have someone watch your back_ , Zuko thought.

There it was again, a smile tugging at his lips. He dumped ashes on the wistful notion. Sokka wasn't his friend, not really. Only in an "enemy of my enemy" sense. They were only working together temporarily. It would be stupid for Zuko to get used to this. He'd always had to struggle and fight, alone, and that made him strong.

Still, he couldn't help but feel warmed inside when Sokka, that huge goofball, said, "Good luck, Red Rabbaroo. Blue Penguin will give you five minutes before commencing Operation: Make Things Go Boom."

-o-

Zuko set off swiftly and silently through the forest back to the road. He'd explained to Sokka that Zhao was ordering in lots of supplies for the huge parade he was throwing tomorrow. Zhao was going to string Aang up and lead him through the town. He'd invited Zuko to watch from an "honoured place", mostly just to be spiteful and rub Zuko's nose in it. Zhao was an even bigger dick than Sokka had thought. He seemed to think he could get away with treating Zuko like dirt.

Perhaps Zhao could.

Sokka watched as Zuko jumped into the back of the cart, landing so softly the driver seemed unaware. He was a stealthy bastard, Sokka had to concede, vaguely impressed with his skill set. They were probably lucky that they'd only ever fought Zuko out in the open where he couldn't use his vast amount of sneakiness to his advantage.

Sokka pulled the backpack onto his shoulder, set off towards the western side of the fortress, and began to set his explosives. He tore a little hole in the box of black powder and then drew a line with it from the explosives back to a safe distance before lighting it with his spark rocks. As soon as the powder caught, a bright little spark began travelling fast to where Sokka had set the explosives.

Sokka set off at a run, making sure to show himself periodically above the ridge line. It was important that they saw his Water Tribe blue. They'd think he came from the sea and would send more troops down that way. It was important they thought there was more than one of him.

A series of explosions went off from behind him. There was a loud cacophony of noise from the fortress. Bells and whistles and alarms echoed through the air. A large group of soldiers ran towards where the first explosion occurred, fanning out as they entered the forest.

 _It was working._

Sokka ran to the next set, then lit the powder. He completed his whole circuit, luring a great deal more soldiers out, before he began to make his way back to the rendezvous point. Suddenly, there was a loud horn blast from within the fortress. The soldiers rapidly turned and ran back towards the fortress, the large doors slamming behind them. There were bursts of fire and a great deal of noise coming from inside.

Oh no! That was bad.

Sokka waited, heart in his mouth and feeling powerless, for what felt like an eternity. Then, just as abruptly as it had started, all the noise and commotion stopped. The large doors opened slowly with a groan.

Sokka saw Zuko walking backwards out of the light with Aang in front of him. It looked like Zuko was holding Aang, but the shaft of light coming through the open doors glinted off something metallic in the prince's arms. Zuko had his swords at Aang's throat, Sokka realised with alarm. That slimy, two-faced jerk!

They were walking backwards along the path. Zhao was watching from the doors with a look of pure loathing. But he wasn't doing anything. He wasn't trying to send soldiers after them as they very slowly made their retreat. It was going to be hard to sneak away now with everyone watching.

They walked past his hiding spot. Aang was smiling widely, even with swords against his throat, which struck Sokka as the craziest thing about this. Aang wasn't looking afraid at all. Did he know it was Zuko? Had he agreed to the sword at the throat charade?

What was happening?

"Psst, Aang, what's going on?" Sokka whispered from the trees.

Aang and the blue mask both turned completely to face him. Sokka was sure that if the blue mask could move, it would have rolled its eyes, but Aang's face broke into an even wider grin.

"Sokka!" he exclaimed happily, just as Sokka heard through the still and quiet air the unmistakeable sound of a volley of arrows being released.

"Get down!" he shouted, but too late.

He heard Zuko give a grunt of pain and saw him fall. Arrows were now landing all around Sokka, like some pointy, dangerous rain. He heard the charge of the soldiers running from the fortress. Crap!

"Aang, dust cloud!" Sokka commanded, and Aang did so. It would give them a few moments of hiding.

"Sokka, it's Zuko," Aang said, starring in horror at the Fire Nation boy lying with limbs all akimbo, his mask off to the side in two pieces. Zuko was bleeding from an arrow coming out of his left shoulder.

Sokka leant down and checked him over. He was out cold, but alive. Sokka tried to pick him up, but he was so heavy. They'd have to move quickly. It was going to be hard to make a quick getaway now with Zuko unable to run away.

 _So, what?_ a small, bitter part of Sokka whispered. _He's Fire Nation. Why should you care what happens to him? You could just leave him here. They will kill him, then you'd have one less problem to deal with._

Sokka pushed that dark thought away. He'd never.

"Help me with him, Aang. We've got to get out of here!"

Aang ran over and took Zuko's other side. "Hang on!" he said, before using his airbending to blast them into the sky.

They went so high that Sokka could see the sea, the lights from the port, and the surrounding mountains. Next to him, Aang pulled the bison whistle from his sleeve and blew. During that moment, Aang's concentration was pulled from Sokka and Zuko. They began to fall. What followed next would always be the five most frightening seconds of Sokka's life.

He was plummeting towards the earth so fast. Sokka lost hold of Aang and lost hold of Zuko. He clutched the bag, even though there was nothing in there that could possibly help him now. He screamed, loud and terrified, but the wind swallowed up his cries. The tops of the trees were rushing forward to meet him.

"Ready, Sokka?" Aang called from somewhere to his left.

Before Sokka had a chance to say _NO,_ an air cushion formed under him and blasted him skywards again, rustling the leaves underneath. Aang "bounced" them with his bending two more times. Sokka heard Appa's rumble in the distance and then next time he fell, he landed safely in Appa's saddle. Zuko landed with a hard thump next to him. Aang landed softly on Appa's head.

"Wow, that was actually kind of fun!" Aang said brightly.

Airbenders!

-o-

Aang had no idea what was even happening anymore, but at least he was out of Pohuai Stronghold. That was the bright side. Aang always believed in trying to find the bright side. Katara was sick, Zuko was in Appa's saddle, and Sokka had lost his mind. But Aang was no longer horribly chained with Zhao gloating over him. That was good.

Also, they had Sokka back. That was good too.

Also, he still had a partially frozen frog for Katara in his pocket. That was amazingly good.

Sokka asked him what had happened. Aang quickly explained about how they decided to try and intercept the ship at Pohuai, but Katara had gotten horribly sick. He told Sokka about the crazy herbalist and looking for frozen frogs before those ninja archers arrived on the scene.

"They're the Yuyan Archers. Zuko told me about them," Sokka responded.

"Uuuum...yeah. About that," Aang began, looking pointedly at Sokka and then down at Zuko. "Did you want to explain … this?" Aang gestured in Zuko's general direction.

"I will, but let's get to Katara first and put some distance between us and Pohuai Stronghold."

Aang nodded in agreement. That sounded like an excellent idea.

-o-

Katara's day had not gotten off to a good start. She had been woken by a disgusting frog stuffed into her mouth. She was confused, tired and still trying to shake off her sickness. She'd been thrown into the saddle with Aang's airbending and landed on top of Sokka and Prince Zuko.

She shrieked and pointed out to both boys that Prince Zuko of the awful Fire Nation, the guy who had been chasing them all over the world and who had tied her to a tree, was in the saddle with them. Neither Aang nor Sokka seemed especially bothered by this.

Sokka had given her a hug and she had been so happy to be reunited with him. She had been so worried about getting him out of Zuko's evil clutches. But her brother had gone one step further and brought Zuko's clutches to them. He'd brought those evil clutches into this saddle!

This saddle was meant to be an evil clutches free zone.

"Katara, can you check if he's okay?" Sokka asked, while nodding towards Zuko, like it was a totally normal thing to ask.

She looked at Sokka incredulously before moving over to the other boy. He was still unconscious. That wasn't good. He'd been hit in the head hard, which really wasn't good. He also had an arrow sticking out from his left shoulder. That was really bad.

"He's not okay," she said bluntly.

"Can you do anything?" Sokka asked. Her brother actually sounded worried.

What had happened to her brother in the few days since she'd seen him?

Katara was already assuming she wasn't going to like this story, but she'd been trying to trust her brother more, especially after the incident with Jet. Sokka's instincts had been right that time. He'd had his reasons not to trust Jet and she hadn't listened.

She had to believe Sokka had good reasons for bringing her an injured Zuko now.

"I can try," she told Sokka, trying to sound reassuring.

-o-

"So, I just want you both to remember that I volunteered to work for that mean old fisherman to support us, because we had run out of money," Sokka began, once they had set up camp and were sitting around the fire.

Zuko still hadn't woken up. Katara had gone through the big bag of stuff and found some first aid supplies as well as some good quality rope. She had placed him against a tree, some distance away, and carefully tied him to it, trying not to jostle his shoulder as she did so. Aang thought this was overkill. Sokka was strangely proud of Katara's new levels of paranoia, but his sister only muttered a comment that sounded like "let's see how he likes it".

They'd all stood around Zuko, who made a very disconcerting sight tied up with an arrow still sticking out of him.

 _Someone should do something about that_ , Sokka thought. It looked weird, but at least it didn't seem to be bleeding any more.

Katara had left the arrow in. She thought that the arrow was the thing holding the blood in place. She glanced at Sokka. "How did he even get shot in the first place?"

Sokka groaned inwardly. He knew it had been a stupid mistake when he'd called out to Aang back at Pohuai Stronghold. He could have kept pace with them through the trees and got Aang's attention when they were all out of firing range, but he'd opened his big mouth instead.

Sokka couldn't help but feel that it was a tiny little bit his fault.

Perhaps it had been guilt that made Sokka haul the firebender along with them. Perhaps it had been because Zuko had saved his life during the storm. As much as this fact annoyed Sokka, he couldn't escape it. Sokka knew he owed Zuko.

It wouldn't have been _right_ to just leave him there to be captured and killed.

Besides, his instincts had told him that bringing Zuko along was the best choice.

Sokka sat down around the fire and began to tell his side of the story. He told Aang and Katara about falling overboard during the storm, only to be pulled onto the Fire Nation ship. He tried to explain about waking up to Zuko kissing him.

The story got side-tracked here, because this part caused an uproar from Katara and Aang. Aang had heard of the kiss of life and tried to explain it in a way that made it sound normal and non-perverted.

Aang was always doing this: trying to be reasonable and see both sides. He never wanted to insult the Fire Nation—just because he had a fire-bender friend a hundred years ago. It sucked. Stupid Kuzon making Aang all tolerant of the Fire Nation and shit.

Aang said it was common practice in the Fire Nation. Kuzon from a hundred years ago knew how to do it too. Katara asked if Kuzon had ever done it to Aang, and Aang blushed scarlet and didn't answer. He babbled the rest of his explanation quickly, saying the Fire Nation was a tropical island archipelago, and heaps of people went swimming and some got into trouble in the water, especially if they tried to ride the giant squid shark.

There were no airbenders or waterbenders there. People in the Fire Nation needed some way to get the air back into the lungs of people who had drowned. You always had a little window of time to "bring someone back". That's why it was called the kiss of life, because you could wake up a drowned person and help them live.

Katara was beside herself at the idea that Sokka had drowned. Sokka tried to down-play it, because he didn't want to worry her. Also, he wanted to seem manly and nonchalant about near death experiences. He mentioned how much water had come out his lungs and then she was off! She had herself a small freak-out and insisted on checking Sokka over before he was allowed to continue with his story.

He told them everything he could remember, but the time he was sick was a little hazy. He relayed the ship's gossip about how Zuko got his scar. Katara and Aang both glanced over at Zuko's scar while Sokka told them this part.

"That's awful," Katara said softly.

Sokka didn't know how to respond. It was awful, but it still didn't make Zuko any less of a jerk.

When he got up to retelling Pohuai Stronghold, Aang chimed in with his version of events. Then the story was done.

"Well, what do you think we should do with him now?" Aang asked once Sokka had finished.

Sokka had no idea.

"I think we should take him to a trained healer," Katara chimed in as she glanced back over her shoulder, brow wrinkled in concern. "He's not looking good. He should have woken up by now."

"I don't know," Sokka responded. "We don't know where the nearest healer is, we don't have any money for a healer, and if Aang plays 'the Avatar card' to get him treated, we are going to get a lot of weird questions and unwanted attention in an area that is crawling with firebenders."

"I have an idea!" Aang said brightly. "Perhaps Zuko will change his mind about catching me. I mean, Sokka said he doesn't seem so bad—"

"That's not what I said!" Sokka interjected.

"—perhaps if I take him to a secluded part of the forest, wait for him to wake up and then talk to him about friendship, he'll want to be my friend and give up chasing us," Aang concluded enthusiastically.

Sokka exchanged a look with his sister. In unison, they both turned back to Aang and blinked twice.

"No, Aang. We're not doing that," Katara said kindly.

"Aang, that is the weirdest thing you've ever said," Sokka said bluntly.

"Well, what's your idea, Sokka? You're the one who made me bring him," Aang fired back, sounding a little hurt that his "brilliant idea" had been poo-pooed so soundly.

But just at that second they heard a loud groan from the other side of the clearing.

-o-

Katara rushed over to the tree, the others behind her. Zuko was groaning loudly and squinting around himself in great confusion.

" _What the..."_ he mouthed.

"Guys, he's waking up," she called over her shoulder, then turned back to Zuko. "Hey, you're okay," she said reassuringly. "Don't struggle, okay? It'll make it hurt worse."

Zuko gaped up at her open-mouthed before looking down at the ropes she'd wrapped around him. He began struggling with renewed vigour, then gasped in pain as he moved his shoulder.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Katara scolded.

"You've taken me prisoner?" Zuko rasped as he surveyed his situation. He stared at the arrow coming out of his shoulder like he just realised it was there, then back to Katara. "You shot me!" he accused.

"I didn't shoot you, you idiot. I'm trying to help you."

"Help me? Oh, I can see that from all these ropes around me. Great help there, peasant."

Katara noticed some smoke coming out of the bindings on his wrist and realised he was trying to burn through the ropes. "Don't try that," she said, dousing them in water quickly and moving the water through the ropes.

If she kept the ropes wet, he wouldn't be able to burn through them. Zuko slumped back against the tree as if just that effort had drained him.

"Now, how many fingers am I holding up?" she asked curtly.

"Four."

She'd been holding up two.

Uh oh.

He probably was a little concussed. She knew ice would help. She'd held some against his injury on Appa, but evidently not for long enough. She bent an iceglove over her hand and tried to place it where the bruise was blossoming on his scarred eye. He jerked away from her frantically, eyes-wide, before making an agonised sound and doubling over at the pain the sudden movement had caused.

Katara thought of what it would be like if she were in Zuko's position. If she had just woken up, concussed and horribly injured with an arrow sticking out of her, tied up and surrounded by potential enemies, she would be grumpy and struggling too...

She'd be scared, she realised in a rush. He'd been scared of her when she'd reached near his scar. No wonder now that she knew how he got it. He probably didn't like people touching it.

"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you," she said as gently as possible.

He looked very sceptical when she said this and made a snorting noise of disbelief in response.

They'd gotten off on the wrong foot here. Perhaps Katara tying him up so thoroughly may have contributed to the general feeling of mistrust in the air.

"You've hit your head really hard," she explained. "I think you have a concussion. I'm going to put some ice on it to help it. That's all."

He continued to lean away from her as far as was possible against the ropes.

"Please, just let me help you!" she urged a little crossly.

Maybe it was the please, or just the fact that she'd told him why she was reaching for his face, but Zuko stopped wriggling and gave her a slight nod before bowing his head. She placed her iceglove against his eye, cupping his face where the bruising was. His forehead was very hot to the touch, like he had a fever, but maybe that was how all firebenders felt. He sighed blissfully as he leaned into her ice-covered hand. She saw his good eye flutter closed as he murmured, "feels good" so quietly she almost didn't hear it.

If she hadn't heard it with her own ears, she never would have believed Zuko was capable of sounding so vulnerable. Whenever they'd spoken before, he'd been abrupt or sarcastic or yelling or circling around her and dangling her mother's necklace while she was tied to a tree. She smiled ruefully; she'd certainly got her own back for that, but it was hard to feel good about it at this very moment. Zuko had to be really out of it to let his guard down so much.

"I'm glad it's helping," Katara said quietly.

His good eye flew open. He looked at her in surprise, almost like he had forgotten she was there. Then he blushed furiously, the red so stark against his pale skin.

Sokka coughed meaningfully behind her and gestured for her to come over and sit. He'd gone through the bag and pulled out a very detailed map. Aang was sitting next to him, trying to look like he was examining the paper.

"So, I have an idea," Sokka began, when she joined them. He pointed to a Fire Nation outpost a few valleys away on the map. "We take him here to this outpost. He can send word to someone on his ship to come and collect him from there. We can drop him off and get out before the Fire Nation even knows we were there. Even if he has no common sense and tries to chase us, he's out of it right now." They all glanced over at Zuko, who was obviously listening from only a few, short paces away. "He wouldn't get very far," Sokka concluded.

"You can't just leave me there _like this_ ," Zuko interjected from his place against the tree.

"Why is that?" Sokka asked.

"I've got a Yuyan Archer arrow sticking out of me. I'm wearing my Blue Spirit gear. _They'll know_ ," he whispered, an edge of panic creeping into his voice. "They'll know I freed Aang last night. You might as well just kill me now if you're going to do that," he ended dramatically, eyes shining with fever.

Perhaps it was the fever that was making him so much more honest and unguarded.

"Nobody's killing anyone," Aang said simply.

"Just one stab," Zuko urged. "So much quicker than what my father would do."

Katara and Sokka exchanged a glance. It was probably true, considering what his dad had done to him just for talking out of turn.

"No one is stabbing you," Aang insisted.

"Then fly me up really high on that bison and push me off. That would work too," Zuko suggested.

"No!" Aang snapped.

"Sokka, does your boomingaang have a sharp bit?" Zuko asked. "You could just use that to stab me."

Sokka actually pulled out his boomerang to examine it. "I think it would be too blunt, buddy. It's actually the velocity it gathers from the way you throw it, coupled with blunt force trauma, that causes all the damage."

"I mean, that'd do too. Blunt force trauma is not my preference, but it'll work."

"I've never actually killed anyone with it," Sokka confessed. "It's more to injure and incapacitate someone. I mean, technically speaking, I probably could, but only if I hit you in the—"

"No!" Aang shouted. He began ticking suggestions off on his fingers. "There will be no murder by stabbing! There will be no murder by bison! There will be no murder by boomerang! There will be no murder!"

"They'll kill me anyway, Aang," Zuko said very dramatically. "If they find out what I did, then I'm as good as dead."

"Only if they find out," Sokka mused, rubbing his chin. "We could get you some new clothes and pull the arrow out. Then they'd never know."

"We can't take the arrow out," Katara hissed. "He might bleed to death!"

"That's fine," Zuko offered.

"No, it's not fine!" Katara said as she stomped back over to him and sat down. "You're concussed and feverish right now. You're not thinking straight."

"It's a better idea than just leaving me there like _this_ ," Zuko fired back, trying to nod his head towards the arrow.

"Can't you just pull it out quickly, Katara?" Sokka asked after a beat.

Sokka had no idea what he was asking. He'd never had to help out Gran Gran as she reset bones and delivered babies. Katara had always been made to help out Gran Gran when she did her rounds. She was sure this was a bad idea, but she didn't see another option. They couldn't keep Zuko, they couldn't just leave him here, and they couldn't send him back like this either.

She didn't like Zuko, who had been chasing them relentlessly across the world. He'd tied her to a tree, for goodness' sake. And yet ... he'd saved her brother and her friend, and she didn't want him to be killed in what she was sure would be a nasty way.

She sat next to him and placed her hand gently on the smooth wood of the shaft. She could grip it easily. Maybe that would help. Just her feather-light touch on the wood caused Zuko to inhale sharply. He muttered a terrible obscenity through clenched teeth, beads of sweat dripping down his face.

He rolled his head to face her, eyes pleading. "Just take it out. Please."

She studied his face for a long moment.

"I'll need to take off your shirt so I can see it better," Katara said firmly, her decision made, and drew the water out of the ropes. "We'll need to clean the area first. Sokka, get your knife. Aang, get water."

She went round the tree and started working at the knots. She couldn't do this with him tied up, and he hardly posed a threat to Aang now. She moved back in front of him and took the knife to cut away the fabric near the wound, but this jostled the arrow too much. Zuko suppressed a groan.

"Sorry," Katara murmured as she continued working.

In the end, it was easier to cut the whole thing off. Zuko was trying to act like it wasn't hurting him, his mouth set in a stubborn line, but she could still feel him shaking slightly. She and Sokka helped him lie down on the grass. Katara set about cleaning around the arrow as best she could. It was embedded deep. She inhaled and tried to suppress her feeling of dread.

This was going to be disgusting.

"You'll need to hold him down," she instructed to her brother and friend, who both looked surprised at having to be involved. She looked down at Zuko. "This is going to hurt, but you've got to stay as still as you can for me."

He nodded.

"Alright, everyone. On the count of three," Katara heard herself say brusquely. She gripped the shaft and put her knee on Zuko's chest for more leverage. "One—"

She pulled with all her might. It was an old trick. People braced themselves for the three, and sometimes it could be done relatively easily in one second without them feeling much pain at all.

This was not one of those times.

Zuko swore explosively and thrashed underneath Sokka's attempts to hold him down (Aang had taken to holding the feet—as far away from arrows sticking out of people as possible. His vegetarian stomach was not up to this amount of blood). Katara pulled harshly until there was an awful slurping sound as the arrow slid out. She tossed it away and grabbed the bandage Aang handed her.

She pressed down over the wound, but it was gushing blood uncontrollably. There was so much. This was bad. This was so much worse than she'd thought it would be. Zuko's head lolled back as he lost consciousness again. Katara swore under her breath and tried to stem the flow.

"I told you we shouldn't have taken it out!" she snapped at Sokka.

"It's a bit late for that now!" Sokka snapped back.

She could still feel the warm liquid gushing through the bandage and over her fingers. He was losing too much, too quickly, and she knew this could only lead to one result. They'd as good as killed him trying to help. The whole idea of pulling the arrow out had been to avert having a dead Zuko on their collective conscience.

She willed the blood to just stop— _just stop, just go back inside him._ She felt it move in response like her bending water.

Huh?

It was a liquid after all. Maybe she could... Katara took away the bandage to see better. She felt desperate enough to try anything and began to move her hands. The blood stopped, then slowly began flowing backwards, up his chest and into the wound.

"Are you doing that?" Aang asked from over her shoulder, something like awe in his voice.

"I think so," Katara whispered, amazed.

She could bend blood?

-0-

Zuko woke to the crackling of a fire. His head felt clearer, less foggy than last time. He still had a pounding headache, his entire left side was sore, his shoulder was excruciating, and he felt cold all over. But he wasn't tied up, which was a huge improvement. He was half sitting, half lying against a rock. His shoulder was tightly bound in fresh bandages and his arm had been put in a sling to help support and immobilise the joint.

No one was attacking him.

He wasn't in a Fire Nation cell for treason.

Someone had even put a blanket over him and a pillow underneath his head.

All in all, this was much better than he expected.

"You're awake," the Avatar said brightly from across the camp fire. Zuko glanced around the camp. No sign of Sokka or the boy's sister, Katara.

Had they just left him here alone with the Avatar?

This could be the chance Zuko had been waiting for.

But how to do it?

He shifted his weight in anticipation and then gasped as pain lanced up his side.

"Here, drink this," the Avatar said, holding out a cup full of tea. Zuko was so thirsty. He took it gingerly while the Avatar called out, "Guys, he's awake again."

He heard a splashing sound and saw Sokka walking up from the river. River? What? The nearest river to Pohuai was miles away. There was also a rather large volcano in the mountains behind Sokka. They had either gone much farther north or much farther inland.

"Where are we?" Zuko asked slowly.

"Well, according to your map, we're near Makapu," Aang said brightly.

"Makapu!" Zuko exclaimed. "I thought you were going to drop me near the outpost?"

"Well, we tried, but that outpost was just swarming with soldiers. In fact, the whole forest around Pohuai was just crawling with Fire Nation. We couldn't risk it," Sokka said, rubbing the back of his neck as he sat down.

"Okay, that makes sense for you. But why on earth did you bring me?" Zuko asked angrily. They'd taken him at least a full two weeks hike away from his ship, and Zuko was sure that there was no way he'd be able to convince them to fly back in that direction after what Sokka had just said.

"You were still unconscious." The avatar smiled like that explained it.

Zuko bit back a sarcastic reply about how he never knew Aang was into grabbing random, unconscious people to kidnap them. He turned to Sokka.

"This wasn't our deal, Sokka!" Zuko was trying to sound cross and severe. He was trying to ignore the pounding in his head and the pain in his side as he tried to sit up. He failed in this and ended up wincing extravagantly as he eased himself up. "We work together to get the Avatar out, then go our separate ways! That is what you said!"

"Hey! I was saving your life! If we'd left you back in the blood-filled clearing of horror, you would have been caught by your own people and there would have been no excuse possible that would have saved your sorry arse then! Would have preferred we left you there to get caught?" Sokka fired back, sounding defensive.

"I would have preferred if you hadn't distracted me like a big buffoon, then I wouldn't have been shot in the first place and none of this would have happened!"

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't taken me prisoner in the first place!" Sokka said grumpily. "This is not my fault!"

"Why am I in Makapu, Sokka?" Zuko practically shouted in frustration. There was a stabbing pain in his shoulder. He grimaced and clutched his arm closer.

Getting shot sucked!

He couldn't even argue with this imbecile properly without hurting himself.

"Stop yelling," came a cross voice from behind him. Katara sat down in the circle with a basket full of stuff she'd foraged from the forest. "We aren't the bad guys here," she scolded him as she began laying out food.

"Neither am I!" Zuko said with feeling.

Katara turned to him, startled, like she hadn't expected him to respond that way. She stared at him for a long moment. Zuko stared right back. Let her look. What did he care what she thought of him?

"Yeah, tell that to Kyoshi Island," Sokka said after a beat, interrupting their staring contest.

"Excuse me?" Zuko wrinkled his face in consternation.

"That village you burned down," Sokka said evenly.

Oh. That.

Admittedly, it wasn't his finest moment, but nobody had gotten hurt as far as Zuko knew. He hadn't been trying to hurt anybody. He hadn't even been trying to burn down the village. He said as much, but was aware it sounded like an excuse.

"No, you were just trying to catch Aang," Katara said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Hey! Hey guys! Listen!" the Avatar interrupted loudly, using his bending to magnify his voice. They all turned to look at him. "Good. Now I've got your attention. I just wanted to say, fighting amongst ourselves is not the answer. It's not going to get us anywhere. Agreed?"

Sokka and Katara nodded at him. Zuko nodded, but very petulantly.

"Now, I'd like to talk to all of you about friendship," the Avatar said. He looked like he had a speech prepared. "You know, the hardest thing about being born a hundred years ago…"

What was _this?_

"Not now, Aang!" Sokka said firmly. "Zuko's not going to be our friend."

A small silence fell. It stung a bit how emphatically Sokka said that, but Zuko told himself he didn't need friends anyway. He certainly didn't need friends who dragged him to Makapu while he was unconscious.

"Seriously, why have you dragged me up here?" Zuko asked, breaking the silence. "What are you going to do with me now?"

The other three exchanged glances. Zuko found this worrying.

"Look, you're obviously not going to kill me. If you were going to just dump me in the forest, you would have done it earlier. So what is it?"

The silence stretched out and the three of them were still having a conversation with their eyes. Katara was currently rolling hers at Sokka, but Zuko had no idea what that meant for him. What could they possibly need him for?

They clearly didn't want him around. Yet they had gone out of their way to make sure he didn't get caught after Pohuai. They had treated his injury as best as they could in the circumstances. It didn't make sense.

"Ransom? Do you want money?" Zuko eventually guessed, because it was one of the only things that could make sense in this bizarre circumstance.

Why else would they kidnap him?

Why else would anyone kidnap him, a disgraced prince?

Why was he angry about this?

Being kidnapped could be the answer to all his problems. He was in the perfect situation to capture the Avatar, he realised quickly. After months of searching high and low for even a single clue as to Aang's whereabouts, he'd woken up here in the Avatar's camp, sitting less than ten paces from Aang. It should be easy. Zuko shifted in anticipation, momentarily forgetting his shoulder injury. His injury quickly reminded him of its existence.

 _Just my luck,_ he thought bitterly. How could he hope to grab Aang by surprise with only one working shoulder?

It struck Zuko as incredibly ironic that after months of fruitless searching, the perfect opportunity had just dropped into his lap like a blessing from Agni and right at the point when he could do nothing with this opportunity.

He'd never be able to grab the Avatar in his current state. He could barely sit upright.

But injuries could heal. Zuko had been hurt much worse than this, and he'd always recovered quickly before.

Perhaps he just needed them to keep him for a little bit longer.

"What makes you think we want money?" Katara asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Look, I know Sokka would do anything for a quick buck. He was willing to let that gross old fisherman use his nubile body," Zuko couldn't help answer. He felt a sense of satisfaction at the offended look that crossed Sokka's face.

"Oi—you already know I was fishing with him!" Sokka huffed, indignant.

"Suuure you were," Zuko responded, before turning back to Katara. "Ransoming me is literally the only thing that makes sense. You guys need the money. I think we all know I'm not much of a threat right now." He gestured to his arm in the sling. "Otherwise ... you don't expect me to believe that you just dragged me all the way to Makapu so Aang could lecture me about friendship in the middle of a forest? I know you guys aren't that stupid."

Manipulation really wasn't Zuko's strong point, but he certainly had their attention. They might be considering it. Zuko had to be careful here. They had to contact his uncle, not his father. He had the feeling that his father wouldn't be swayed by a veiled threat to his person. Ozai would think being kidnapped was a shameful weakness rather than a brilliant stratagem.

Would his father care if anything happened to him? Ozai certainly had given no indication these last three years that he missed Zuko. He never replied to Zuko's letters. Zuko wasn't even sure he read them. Zuko couldn't let his father find out about this. Not until he had the Avatar. His father probably wouldn't pay a single copper piece for him anyway. But Uncle would pay.

"If we did want to ransom you, how would that work?" Sokka asked slowly.

"Oooh, I know!" Aang chimed in happily. "Kuzon and I went to see a Fire Nation play about it."

Sokka and Katara looked at him expectantly.

"There was this princess and she was very beautiful. She was taken by pirates and they ransomed her. Ransoming meant that they kept her in a cave and were really nice to her and brought her flowers and nice food and stuff. Then they all fell in love with her. Then she fell in love with one of them. It had sad bits and funny bits and a happy end with fireworks," Aang explained.

"I'm not bringing you snacks and falling in love with you," Katara said curtly, rounding on Zuko with disapproving eyes.

"I'm not going to fall in love with you either," Zuko retorted.

"Trust me, you don't want Zuko," Sokka interjected. "He is a terrible kisser."

"For the last time, it was not a kiss!" Zuko shouted.

Injury be damned. He was going to kick Sokka's arse, he thought angrily. He forced the anger away and took a deep and exaggerated calming breath. Trying to kick Sokka's arse would not persuade them to keep him with their group.

"That's not what ransoming is, Aang," Zuko said, trying to get back on topic. "Ransoming is where a wealthy person is kidnapped and the kidnappers—" he pointed at the group "—demand payment from the family for their safe return. Then they meet at a neutral location and swap the person for the cash."

"We aren't kidnappers!" Katara crossed her arms indignantly.

"Oh, sorry. Then I've been dragged onto the back of a bison up to bloody Makapu by somebody else. My mistake."

"We could be kidnappers..." Sokka started to say, then gestured his sister and the Avatar over.

Zuko hated it when they did this.

They thought that making a little huddle three feet away from him somehow made the conversation private when Zuko could clearly hear everything they were saying. Zuko felt like it was such an insult to his intelligence that they wouldn't even try and conceal their planning from him. He made no attempt to hide the fact that he was listening.

"Look, I think it is something we should consider," Sokka said in a low voice. "The money would help. I don't think our Water Tribe cash is going to see us to the North Pole. I didn't get paid for nearly dying on that cursed fishing boat after all."

"But we can't be kidnappers! Those are bad guys!" the Avatar insisted.

"What's bad about it? We've kidnapped a bad guy!" Sokka said. "No, we've taken prisoner the jerk who was chasing us," he corrected himself. "Besides, we should keep friends close, enemies closer. Finally, we can use having this jerk chase us to our advantage."

Sokka had obviously read a military strategy scroll or two, and this surprised Zuko. The South Pole didn't strike him as a place that had an extensive library.

"How?" Katara asked.

"Look, he's not dangerous right now. He's pretty injured." Three heads turned to look at him in unison. Zuko stared back. Sokka gestured them back into the talking huddle. "I think he's listening."

"Of course I'm listening!" Zuko interrupted. "I'm sitting _right here_ **.** I'm only three feet away from you."

"I think we should discuss this elsewhere," Sokka said back to the huddle.

They all nodded and got up.

"Should we tie him up again?" Katara asked with an uncalled for amount of eagerness.

"May as well." Sokka shrugged. He went over to a familiar bag.

"Hey! That's my bag!" Zuko realised with a start.

"Well, then, thanks for this great quality rope," Sokka said as he helped himself.

He pulled it out, got Katara to run some water through it, and wandered over. Zuko was most uncooperative and grumbly during the tying up process, but he didn't struggle too hard. He didn't want it to seem like he _wanted_ to be kidnapped and tied up. That would give his plan away.

He also didn't want to be too difficult for them. If they thought "kidnapping" him was too hard, they might just decide it was easier to leave him in the woods ...with no food, no water, and no resources ... and no shirt ... a full two weeks hike from his ship ... and with a horribly injured shoulder.

Now that would be depressing.

They wandered over to the river and Zuko couldn't make out their words. He waited anxiously for them to decide. Eventually, Sokka sauntered over holding the map.

"How long would it take your ship to reach this bay?" he asked, pointing at a spot on the map.

Zuko squinted, trying to see where he was pointing, but Sokka was fidgeting. "Can you just hold it still so I can see?" he grumbled.

Sokka complied.

"One week, maybe two. It depends on weather and currents. Also, my ship was badly damaged in the storm, so that might slow it down."

"How do we contact your ship to get our money?" Sokka asked.

"You could send my uncle a messenger hawk. If we're near Makapu, there is a hawk station in that town," Zuko said, feeling a wave of relief.

He was going to be kidnapped after all!

His luck was finally turning around.

-o-

Notes:

Lovely readers, welcome! If you are back for chapter 2, then huge thanks for sticking around.

One million thanks to the lovely Boogum for the excellent beta skills!

Things in this chapter I want to ramble about:

Zuko is a lonely muffin, not a "bad boy".

So... Blood bending.

Money, money, money!

So season 1, I've been rewatching it, and it just struck me how lonely Zuko must have been for those 3 years. Poor kid is surrounded by salty, salty seamen* who are all in their mid-forties at least. He's constantly rejected by everyone. He's been given a hopeless, wild goose chase mission – and he focuses on that so blindly, because it's all he has!

*Headcanon: The phrase 'swears like a sailor' could apply to Zuko if he wants it to. I think Zuko would know some very creative swears, because he has been surrounded by disgruntled, swearing seamen for 3 years. I think he doesn't swear during the show because he's trying to uphold royal standards of behaviour – but the further removed he gets from his old identity and the more comfortable he feels around the Gaang, the more likely it is that the he will drop a few swear-bombs.

Even Uncle Iroh, who I love – don't get me wrong - is not very overtly affectionate with him. Maybe the Fire Nation are less demonstrative with affection, unlike the Water-Tribes who are snuggle-bunnies...Or maybe Zuko is so prickly – like a little grumpy cactus – that Iroh never risks it, because he assumes his nephew will lash out.

Either way, Zuko is such a lonely, angry, disgruntled, tragic muffin. No a cinnamon roll – but a sad, sad muffin. A blueberry muffin with insufficient blueberries.

I really disagree with portrayls of Zuko, even season 1 Zuko, that have him as this "Dark n' Intriguing", suave, bad-boy-esque character...yeah, no... that kid is an awkward, misguided hot-mess, but he still had a good heart. I also think he'd be a little bit touch-starved and friendship-starved to be honest.

He is the poster child of the text post: What I want in life: snuggles. What I receive: Struggles.

So, Zuko does get very injured this chapter, for several reasons. ATLA was aimed at kids, at that's why Zhao doesn't say kill the thief, but realistically, those yu-yuan archers wouldn't be shooting to stun. Sokka's big mouth probably actually saved him here, because he would have turned fully towards the irritating noise, and taken it in the shoulder.

Also – If you are ever in the unfortunate predicament of having a foreign object, like an arrow, embedded in you – always leave it in. Don't do what Katara does here and yank it out and hope for the best.

Another thing, season one Zuko gets injured a buttload. In the drinking game that introduced me to ATLA, all those long years ago, we would take a drink whenever he got injured – and it happens so, so frequently! You had to gird-your-liver if it was a season 1 Zuko episode. Bato of the Water-tribe did everybody in!

Anyway, he always seems to bounce back rapidly. This is either because fire-is-life and firebenders recover faster from injuries due to their zest for life, (my head-canon to explain it) or because if he reacted to injuires like a normal person, he'd be out of commisson for the rest of the show after being blown up by pirates and then we'd all be deprived of his amazing journey.

Also, I should probably tell you now: This isn't going to be a prison-shenanigans-on-the-Wani fic. This is going to be a the-gaang-adopt/kidnap-an-angry-muffin-and-closely-follow-their-canon-journey-with-him fic. The Worst Prisoner could also refer to Zuko, because let's face it, like Sokka before him, he is going to be a very annoying prisoner.

So Blood-bending...there is no way it could all be bad.

There is a very practical, helpful medical application for blood-bending. It could be used to save lives (like Katara uses it for here). No ability is inherently evil, it all depends on how you use it. Bryke have a very black and white morality, which is why LOK and the comics are much flatter, less complex stories. Just declaring it illegal and evil, then outlawing it, robs Katara of an important skill and an important journey through processing how she feels about it.

Katara's introduction to blood-bending was very traumatic, but she was so good at it, so quickly! She's 14! She only started properly learning water-bending less than a year ago and she can beat the master who invented this technique. She was a badass!

I've got some amazing stuff planned for Hama, if/when I get up to season 3...but I wanted to plant a little seed here, and have Katara discover it almost accidentally and be able to use it for a good purpose, before meeting Hama.

My girl Katara is incredible. She discovers she can heal accidentally too, she figures out sweat-bending when the situation calls for it - so this doesn't feel like a huge stretch for me. Put Katara in a dicey situation and she will pull some amazing bending out of her butt and save the day.

For goodness sake, Katara was just the most powerful bender ever and what happens to her in canon is a travesty of justice!

Money money money – how much of it did Gran-Gran give the kids? Oi Gran-Gran, how much did you have stashed away?

I always wondered how currency worked in the ATLA world. There's obviously EK money, FN money and WT money. What's the exchange rate? Is Sokka always converting back to WT in his head?

What about when they were in the FN town? Wouldn't their WT coins cause suspicion?

The show brings attention to their lack of funds in "The Storm" episode, and points out that not all vendors would take foreign money. Also that Aang can't always trade of the "I'm the Avatar" card to get free stuff. I think the Northern Water Tribe would give them funds, but it is a while until we get up there. So they would have a financial need at this point in their story, and an ill-thought out quick buck scheme is just what this story needed.

Next chapter, we will go to Makapu for some fortune-telling fun. Sokka will hate his life, but Zuko will hate his life more. Aang will actually have a pretty nice time for the most part. Katara and Zuko will have an interesting conversation. Til then!


	3. the fortune teller

Sokka tossed and turned during the night. He couldn't shake the feeling that Zuko had somehow _tricked_ them into kidnapping him. He tried to dismiss this. Zuko wasn't that smart. Zuko was the sort of person who would jump into the ocean in the middle of a cyclone to save someone. Evidently, Zuko didn't really think things through. He wasn't good at long-term, intricate strategy and manipulation.

Sokka had weighed the pros and cons. He knew Zuko had been pretty determined to grab Aang, but then he had seemed very shaken by getting shot and all. He'd even asked them to kill him—what had that been about? Sokka would keep Aang out of grabbing distance. He'd simply never give Zuko a chance. If the prince made a try for Aang, then ... there was a really decent set of handcuffs in the bag as well as some good quality rope.

Sokka also didn't want to let on that he had accidentally kidnapped somebody. When Zuko said "You guys aren't that stupid", Sokka felt like it was directed at him. He would never admit to being that stupid. Sokka had his pride after all.

Wait a minute. He wasn't even the stupid one here.

If anything, Katara was the stupid one. She was just too trusting. Bright and early, Katara had gone over and loosened the ropes. Her previous level of paranoia around Zuko had abated somewhat, and this worried Sokka.

"Careful, Katara," Sokka warned. "Make sure he doesn't do anything with that rice."

Both Zuko and Katara looked over at him confused.

"What could I even do with the rice?" Zuko asked.

"You could make it super hot, then dump it all over her to scald her, then throw your chopsticks like ninja stars and stab me in the eye, then ... then ... I don't know," Sokka said, losing his trail of catastrophic events. "I'm not the evil mastermind here."

"Clearly," Katara said wryly, before turning back to Zuko and examining the wound with a furrowed brow. "How does it feel today?"

"Bad," Zuko replied.

"Like the normal level of bad after you've been shot or weirdly bad?" Katara asked.

"Eeer, I've never been shot before," Zuko said almost apologetically. "I don't know what the normal level of bad would feel like."

"Does it feel squishy or ... sloshy?" Katara said, while give the area a little prod with her fingers.

"Ow! Now it feels really sore!" Zuko snapped. "Why are you asking me if it feels squishy?"

"It's probably something to do with that weird thing she did with your blood yesterday," Aang said mildly from next to Sokka. "I've never seen anything like that before. _It was so gross_ , but so fascinating ... But mostly gross."

Aang was hunched over something in his hands and concentrating. He seemed completely unaware of the alarm his blithe statement caused. Zuko's face was priceless—seeing it was probably worth his entire ransom (which Sokka hoped would be very substantial, considering Zuko was a prince).

"You were bleeding out," Katara explained rather rapidly. "You probably would have died. And there was so much blood, and blood is a liquid, and I realised I could control it with my waterbending. So I waterbent it back into you ... and you are still alive and your shoulder seems a little better. But just ... it might be weird. I've never done anything like that before. So tell me ... if it feels weird."

Zuko stared into the fire, looking completely horror-struck.

"Zuko ... it's probably going to be for the best if you don't move it much. Just in case, you know, it gets weird. I'm going to put your arm back in the sling for now." Katara started her task.

Zuko blinked at her, but didn't respond. He was still looking ridiculously shocked.

"Can you please stop freaking out and say something?" Katara demanded when she was finished.

"Freaking out... I'm not freaking out. This is fine. You waterbend blood now. That's fine. That's totally fine," Zuko said in a remarkably high-pitched voice considering how low his normal rasp sounded. He was clearly not fine with this morning's revelation.

"I have something that might cheer you up, Zuko," Aang offered.

"What?" Zuko sounded extremely dubious.

"I made a new necklace for Katara!" Aang lifted his project out of his lap happily. "Isn't it nice?"

The necklace did not cheer Zuko up.

Aang presented it to Katara, who seemed to love it. Sokka realised in dismay that Aang had used his fishing line to create this. He made a sarcastic comment about Aang's jewellery line and his obvious crush on Katara. Katara told him to shut it.

Just then they heard an angry growling from close by. Aang flew up to investigate and then yelled that someone was being attacked by a platypus bear.

Katara and Sokka rushed over to help while Zuko shouted for them to untie him.

"Guys, you can't just leave me to be eaten by a platypus bear!" he yelled rather grumpily.

Sokka and Katara came to the clearing where a platypus bear had cornered an amazingly calm and unperturbed guy. Katara and Sokka shouted conflicting advice at him to help him escape the bear, but he only smiled benignly and said there was no need. Aang jumped between the man and the bear and tried to calm the bear. Then Zuko came in from the side and pulled Aang to the ground as the bear swiped at him.

Hey, how had he escaped?

Sokka almost didn't notice Appa land on the riverbank and scare the platypus bear away. Aang jumped up really high, landing on Appa's back and giving him a loving hug. Sokka stomped over to Zuko.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sokka said. "How did you escape?"

"I burned through the ropes, you idiot. I wasn't waiting around to be eaten by a platypus bear. You were lucky I was here to pull Aang out of harm's way."

"Oh, is that what you were doing? It looked like you were trying to snatch him!" Sokka replied, getting right up in his space.

"Snatch him? He was going to be eaten! I was saving him," Zuko said angrily, not backing down.

"If anyone was going to be eaten, it would have been this idiot," Sokka said, pointing at the calm man.

The man responded calmly that everything had been under control because some fortune teller had predicted he would have a safe journey. Sokka was infuriated by this. He pointed out that the calm man had almost been killed. The calm man espoused some nonsense about how great his fortune teller was (nonsense which Katara tragically agreed with). He gave them an umbrella and then went on his merry way. Katara suggested that maybe they could see this fortune teller too.

"I can already tell you what is going to happen in the future. In fact, I'll show you." Sokka replied. "Aang is going to get me the big bag from the campsite. Quickly!"

Sokka had an idea. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer after all.

"Zuko, look over there!" Sokka said loudly and pointed. "Is that admiral Zhao in a sequinned tutu?"

"What?" Zuko said, and actually turned to look.

Sokka used his brief distraction to whip out the handcuffs as quick as lightning and attach it to both their wrists. The clink of the metal got Zuko's attention and he turned back around. He looked down between them at the handcuffs, then back up at Sokka, then back down between them. He made the angriest face Sokka had ever seen.

"In the future, we'll go everywhere together," Sokka declared.

"Sokka, you moron!" Zuko yelled. "What in _Koh's lair_ is this!"

"I know you were trying to get to Aang. Don't play that innocent 'I was just saving him' card. You've used that excuse too many times recently," Sokka hissed.

"But I was," Zuko started saying.

"Nope, not hearing it. This is how it's going to be. You can't snatch Aang if you are attached to me, and anywhere you go, I'll go."

Zuko turned to Katara and Aang in appeal.

"In all fairness, Zuko, you have been trying to capture me a lot," Aang said mildly. "It seems like a sensible precaution to me if we are going to be kidnapping you for a while."

-o-

They packed up their camp. Sokka was very grumpy that Zuko had burned through the "good" rope. Zuko was very grumpy at being handcuffed to Sokka. Aang tried to encourage them to be friends. This got an irate response from both boys, but Katara drowned them out.

She was so excited about meeting a real and accurate fortune teller. She tried to get the boys excited about seeing a fortune teller too. If they had to go into Makapu to use the messenger hawk tower anyway, it made sense to stop off and visit Aunt Wu.

"I agree, Katara. Knowing your future would be great," Zuko said grumpily as they walked towards the town.

"Thank you, Zuko. See, Sokka? Zuko doesn't think it's nonsense," Katara said primly to her brother.

"Yeah," Zuko continued. "If I had known the future during the storm, if I had known that you were going to _do this—_ " he waved their linked wrists in Sokka's face so hard the chain jingled "—I would have just let you fucking drown!"

"Well, if I had known that you were going to be this much of an asshole, I would have just let you get caught and killed back at Pohuai!" Sokka retorted. "Besides, you can't agree with Katara! You know fortune-telling is nonsense! Aunt Wu told that idiot to give us an umbrella and it hasn't even started to rain."

The universe was on Katara's side in all this, she was sure of it, because just at that exact moment the heavens opened up and it started bucketing down rain. She opened the umbrella and Aang scooted under with her, taking her arm. Sokka and Zuko stood out in the downpour, getting very wet and bedraggled looking. Sokka grumbled that this didn't prove anything, because the sky had been grey all day.

"Just admit you could be wrong and you can come under the umbrella too," Katara offered.

"Sokka is wrong—about everything. Ever," Zuko said quickly. "Can I come under the umbrella now?"

Katara made space for him.

"Traitor," Sokka mumbled at him as they walked, but he still used being handcuffed to Zuko as an excuse to fit under the umbrella too.

-o-

Zuko didn't believe in fortune-telling, not really. But pretending that he did seemed to really annoy Sokka, and right now "annoying Sokka" was his main goal. He was mighty annoyed that Sokka had outsmarted him so thoroughly. He had one busted shoulder and an arm in a sling. His other arm was attached to a sarcastic, Water Tribe buffoon.

He begrudgingly had to admit it was a smart play on Sokka's behalf.

Zuko had been trying to grab Aang, after all.

He hadn't really thought it through. He had just seen an opportunity. He'd hoped the drama of the platypus bear could somehow be used to his advantage. Now he was in a worse position than if he had just stayed tied to the rock.

They reached the Hawkery and selected a writing station. On instinct, Zuko reached for the paper and inkpot. He was so used to sending messenger hawks, after all. Sokka, however, shoved him out of the way.

"Oh, no. You are not getting a pen! Who knows what you'll do with it?"

"What do you think I am going to do with a pen?" Zuko asked indignantly.

"You could use it to squirt the ink in my eyes to blind me, then cut my arm off with your ninja skills and then kidnap Aang," Sokka explained.

"That seems really over complicated," Zuko replied. "It would make more sense to stab you in the neck with the pen, then get the keys in your pocket, free myself, then grab Aang."

"Come on, guys, stop arguing and try to be friends," Aang interjected. "You never know, you might have a fun day being handcuffed together."

Zuko exchanged a look with Sokka. Sokka raised one eyebrow in disbelief. Zuko nodded in agreement.

"Shut up, Aang," Sokka said. "We are not going to have a _fun day._ "

"I second that. This is not fun for me, Aang!" Zuko waggled their cuffed hands towards Aang.

"Don't tell him to shut up!" Katara intervened. "Come on, Aang. Let's leave the two idiots to it and go get our fortunes told."

Aang joined her and they swanned off together, leaving him alone with Sokka.

"Fortune-telling is such nonsense," Sokka muttered, turning back to the writing station.

"I know, right?" Zuko agreed.

"A-ha!" Sokka said with a great amount of vindication. "I _knew_ you thought it was bullshit too."

Sokka started trying to write, but it was tricky for him because his writing hand was the one he had handcuffed to Zuko. It made writing unnecessarily difficult. Zuko offered to take over writing. Even his injured arm would have been neater than the mess Sokka was making of their paper.

"Nope. I'm not letting you write it and send a grubby, evil Fire Nation code to your uncle," Sokka replied.

"What would I even say? That I've been kidnapped by the most inept person ever?"

Sokka, in a fit of maturity, stuck his tongue out in response, then finished writing. "Now, how does this look?" He held up his note for Zuko's inspection.

It had all the important details. It was addressed correctly. It was legible, but only just.

"You have the handwriting of a serial killer," Zuko observed in a deadpan tone of voice.

"Actually, serial killers typically have really neat handwriting," Sokka replied as he re-examined the note. "Besides, maybe I'm trying to disguise my handwriting, so they don't know who it is."

"But they will know who it is. You signed your name," Zuko pointed out a little cheekily.

Sokka made a grumpy noise, then crossed his name out. They sent it using the recipient collect system. Uncle would have to pay to receive it, but that would be okay.

"Okay, that's done. Shall we head to the house of nonsense?" Sokka said grimly.

They wandered towards it. Sokka gave him a slight shove. He shoved Sokka back. They continued to shove each other for the entire walk there.

Katara was getting her fortune done when they arrived. Aang was sitting and looking quite cheerful on one of the floor cushions. He was surrounded by a vast amount of snacks. They were being brought to him in a steady trickle by a girl in pink. She blushed every time Aang looked at her.

Sokka made a beeline for the snacks. Zuko was slowly adjusting to the rhythm of being attached to Sokka. He gave an exasperated sigh and went along.

Katara came out beaming happily.

"Did you have a good reading?" Sokka asked wryly. "Did she tell you all about who you're going to marry and how many kids you're going to have?"

"Just keep an open mind, Sokka," Katara replied, ignoring his question. "It's nice to have some insight into your future."

"I don't need that. I already know my destiny," Zuko grumbled.

Yes, his destiny to be the one to capture the Avatar and bring him back to the Fire Nation to restore his honour did seem much more difficult today, especially after Sokka had attached himself to Zuko's person. Zuko was sure that if he just waited, played up his injured shoulder a lot and seemed co-operative, the other three would relax their guard around him eventually. He'd get another chance.

"If you remind me again that your destiny is to snatch Aang and drag him back to the Fire Nation, I'm going to feed you to a platypus bear," Sokka said, almost like he was reading Zuko's mind.

Zuko pulled the snack bowl away from Sokka. Sokka reached out and tried to get it back. Inelegant squabbling over snacks occurred. Katara tutted. Aang made moon-eyes at Katara tutting.

"What did Aunt Wu say about who you're going to marry?" Aang asked her eagerly.

Sokka and Zuko both paused their squabbling to observe the painfully awkward scene unfolding. Katara gave him a vague non-answer about powerful benders. Aang grinned in response.

Agni, that kid was so obvious.

There was no way Katara didn't notice.

Aunt Wu emerged from the shadows of her nonsense lair and asked "Who's next?" in an unnecessarily ominous voice. Sokka volunteered in order to "get it over with". Aunt Wu looked incredibly unimpressed with him. She told him that he was going to live a life full of misfortune that was entirely self-inflicted. Zuko snorted.

Sokka was going to need some ice for that fortune-teller burn!

"Sucks to be you, Sokka," he said snidely.

Aunt Wu turned to look directly at Zuko. "Perhaps your friend might like a reading," she said in a way that made it sound like an order, not a suggestion.

"He's not my friend!" Sokka interjected quickly.

Aunt Wu looked at the handcuffs that bound them. "My mistake. I just assumed you were _close_ ," she said with a great deal of old lady snark.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Sokka started to say, then turned to Zuko—like he expected Zuko _,_ _of all people,_ to come up with an excuse for why they were handcuffed together.

Zuko made a face at the other boy that said, _Go on, tell her you kidnapped me._

"They accidentally handcuffed themselves together this morning," Katara supplied. "They've been fighting about it all day."

Aunt Wu tutted and shook her head, saying audibly towards Sokka, "Misfortune that is entirely of your own making." She then gestured for them to follow her. "I guess the _two_ of you may as well come this way."

She led them to a smoky room at the back. They all sat together.

"Young man, give me your hand," she said to Zuko.

This was a bit awkward because one hand was fixed in a sling attached to his injured shoulder and the other was attached to Sokka. He eventually gave her the Sokka-side hand. Sokka's hand hung like a limp fish at the bottom of the chain. This was evidently his way of expressing displeasure at the fortune-telling room. Sokka's incredible distaste for fortune-telling put Zuko in a much more pro-fortune-telling mood.

"What do you see?" he asked the fortune teller, feigning interest.

"I see that the rhododendron blooms at midnight," Aunt Wu said as she looked at him evenly.

Huh?

Zuko had been willing to play along with a lot of bullshit, just to annoy Sokka, but that didn't even make any sense. "Is that really accurate? My uncle says only the moonflower prefers the shade and darkness."

"Yes, it does. You are correct," Aunt Wu said, sounding more excited. "Did you know that the lily will open for those who seek her truth?" she asked Zuko.

Riiiiight.

This was getting weird. This was even more nonsense than Zuko had been expecting. How could Katara like this bullshit? He exchanged a look with Sokka, who shrugged.

"The Lotus has wisdom to unfurl?" Aunt Wu asked again, voice faltering now.

"Is this my future?" Zuko asked, very confused.

"Maybe you're going to become a gardener who grows flowers," Sokka suggested.

"I'm not going to be a gardener!" Zuko snapped, pissed off.

Aunt Wu was looking confused now and staring between the two of them. There was a long pause. She dropped Zuko's hand and looked directly at him. "Do you have any idea what I'm saying to you?" she asked with a resigned sigh.

Hey now!

Zuko wasn't the one uttering inexplicable mumbo-jumbo about flowers. If anyone should give the resigned sigh, it should be him.

"My reading?" he guessed. He had assumed that was what she had been on about this whole time.

Aunt Wu gave another fed-up sigh and stood up. "No. Your reading is this: you are making life unnecessarily difficult for yourself and everyone around you. This foolish path you have chosen will not bring you happiness. You must ask yourself who are you and what do you want? If you do not find these answers, and find yourself, you will be perpetually lost in a swamp of self-loathing and self-inflicted misery," she finished dramatically, then gestured for them to leave.

He also got self-inflicted misery? The same fortune as Sokka? Did she just recycle that fortune and give it to everyone who didn't act like her mumbo-jumbo was amazing?

Fortune-telling was total nonsense!

-o-

Aunt Wu dismissed the boys and retired to her private study. She sent Meng on an errand. Then she carefully unlocked the hidden compartment in her desk. She took the parchment over to her Pai Sho set. She wanted to get the code exactly right. When she had first gotten a missive from the Grand Lotus several days ago, she had been rather alarmed. She'd been on the look-out ever since for a young man with a remarkable scar.

The Grand Lotus had always appeared unflappable in all his missives, but the urgent tone of his last letter was obvious even through their complicated code. He had been searching for any clues to his nephew's whereabouts. Now that she had met the boy in question, she clearly understood why.

He obviously wasn't that bright if he accidentally handcuffed himself to people. He probably should not be left unsupervised.

She re-arranged the tiles and began to write her reply.

-o-

"See, I told you fortune-telling is just mumbo jumbo!" Sokka said pointedly to Katara.

"I'll say!" Zuko agreed, looking a bit disgruntled. "What was all that about? I didn't imagine that, did I?" He turned to Sokka. "She really just blah-blahed about flowers at me in that first bit, didn't she?"

"Yeah, your fortune was so weird. It made no sense," Sokka said, nodding in solidarity.

"It makes perfect sense," Katara said smugly. "You're both just annoyed because you are both going to make yourselves miserable." She smiled sweetly at them. "Personally, I think she's a marvel. She can look at you and just know things about you."

"Can she, though?" Zuko said with disbelief.

"She could tell that you two are idiots who are going to make yourselves unhappy." Katara sniffed.

"Yeah, but to be fair, telling us we are going to make ourselves miserable isn't that much of a stretch if she thinks we are the sort of people who would accidentally handcuff ourselves together," Sokka replied, waving his handcuffed hand in Katara's face.

"It's not my fault people think you two accidentally handcuffed yourselves together," Katara said mildly.

"But it is! That is what you told people!" Zuko harrumphed at her.

"Fortune-telling is bullshit and we're going to prove it!" Sokka declared. "C'mon, Zuko, let's go talk some science into people!" He tried to storm off.

"Do I have a choice?" Zuko asked reluctantly.

"No!" Sokka said as he dragged the other boy along.

Katara watched them go, feeling amused. Sokka wandered around and tried to convince the town that Aunt Wu was a fraud. Zuko trailed behind him, looking like he would have preferred to have been eaten by a platypus bear. Every now and then, she heard him moan loudly, "These people are _stupid,_ Sokka. Can we please just leave?" The townspeople made affronted faces at him as he walked past.

Ah, Zuko. He had a gift for offending people wherever he went.

Sokka ignored his moaning. He was on a mission. One of the townspeople asked Sokka if his mighty science could explain why it rains.

"Yes, it can!" Katara heard him shout.

He kicked a rock in frustration. It hit a duck, which then attacked the two boys in retaliation. Katara picked that moment to wander back over, mimicking Aunt Wu's voice as she said, "So much misfortune ... mostly self-inflicted."

Then she laughed for a long period of time. The boys just looked at her, supremely irritated.

Aunt Wu emerged to make some predictions on the podium in the centre of town. Katara tried to move forward to hear better. Aang stuck close to her, the way he had all morning. Aang started talking, and she tried to focus on Aunt Wu's words, but she could still hear him.

 _Oh no._

It sounded like he was going to confess his crush on her.

Katara knew about his little crush. Of course she did. She wasn't an idiot. She loved Aang too, but as a brother. She always talked to him with brotherly affection, described him as a sweet little guy, and treated him like her family. She had hoped this would be enough for him to get the hint. She never wanted to hurt him, but if he confessed his love and wanted her to reciprocate, she would have to say something that would make him sad.

So she did the most sensible thing.

She pretended that she didn't hear him before running away.

-o-

Aang had just come over and asked Sokka for advice about girls. Zuko didn't know that much about girls either, but he was sure that the advice Sokka had just doled out was terrible advice.

Be aloof?

Ignore them?

Don't be too nice?

Zuko was sure this advice was stupid. Then again, this entire town was stupid, so maybe it would work?

Also, wasn't it a bit weird to be giving love advice to the kid who wanted to date your sister? If some poor sap ever asked Zuko for love advice regarding Azula, he would have just told them to head for the hills.

 _Run for your life._

But then Katara was nothing like Azula.

Thank goodness.

Sokka watched Aang rudely ignore the girl with the pink dress, the one who had been bringing him snacks earlier. She slumped and looked forlorn. Zuko found himself feeling sorry for her. Sokka seemed to think this was a good thing. Sokka seemed to think that Aang was trying to date the girl in pink.

This was so patently idiotic that Zuko couldn't let it stand. He'd only been with their group for a little while and he had already figured out Aang's massive crush on Katara. It wasn't that hard. The Avatar was not that subtle about it. Even the bison and the lemur probably knew.

"You do realise he was talking about your sister?" Zuko asked Sokka.

"Yeah, but Katara's not into it. That's why I'm always teasing him about it. I'm hoping he gets the hint without it having to get awkward."

"You thought telling him to rudely ignore girls would make him less awkward?" Zuko asked in disbelief.

"Girls love a cool guy," Sokka insisted. "Maybe he'll follow my advice. He'll just keep ignoring pinkie, she'll fall in love with him and boom. He gets over my sister."

Zuko wasn't sure that this was how love worked, but left it.

"I'm hungry. What do you want?" Sokka asked.

They had wandered over to the fruit stall as Sokka was speaking. Zuko turned to him, surprised. Sokka was going to get him some fruit? He hadn't really expected anything even remotely like consideration from the idiot. Zuko was never sure how to act when Sokka was nice to him. It made him feel oddly self-conscious. He hadn't had many people be friendly to him, ever, and he had no idea how to react.

"Err, pineapple," Zuko said.

"Nope, not a pineapple. Choose something less dangerous."

"How on earth could a pineapple be dangerous?" Zuko asked, feeling a familiar irritation rising in his chest. He felt more comfortable with how to react now.

"You could stab me in the eye with the spiky bit of the pineapple, or squirt the juice in my eye, use my blindness against me and escape. Then you could go snatch Aang while he's distracted mooning after Katara."

It actually ... wasn't the worst plan ever. Zuko had never thought of using a pineapple as a weapon before. Shame that Sokka thought of it first. Sokka certainly was versatile in his approach to violent scenarios.

"Fine, papaya and lime," Zuko said after a beat.

They ate their fruit under the shade of the roof. After a while, Katara came over and also ordered a papaya, looking extremely glum about it. She sat next to them with a sigh.

"Why are you eating papaya? You hate papaya," Sokka commented.

"I know, but Aunt Wu said I had to," Katara said as she mournfully started picking at it.

"Katara, if you don't want that, I'll have it." Zuko offered. He hadn't realised how hungry he'd been until he'd started eating. "Go get yourself a fruit you want."

She looked at him. "Aunt Wu's never been wrong about anything before. Who knows, I might end up liking papaya."

"Katara, I actually like papaya. If you don't want it, that's okay. Just don't pick at it and act like it's the worst fruit right in front of me."

"No, I'm going to eat it and learn to like it. Aunt Wu said I would." She took an enormous bite out of that poor papaya while maintaining eye-contact with him the whole time. She was really eye-balling him, actually. She chewed, grimaced and swallowed. "That is tasty," she forced herself to say stubbornly.

"Are you really going to do everything Aunt Wu says?" Sokka asked with horror.

"Well, she has foretold who I will get married to. If I want that to come true, I have to listen to her about all the little things as well," Katara said evenly, like this made perfect logical sense to her.

"So who is he? Do I get to meet him first? You can't go marrying someone I don't like just because Aunt Wu said so!" Sokka said, starting to sound a little frustrated with his sister.

"I don't know who he is yet, but she told me he was a powerful bender. He'll be brave and kind and smart, so there," Katara retorted, before taking another bite of her papaya. She grimaced again. "That is nasty," she muttered.

"Just stop eating it if you hate it!" Zuko interjected. "No one is forcing you!"

"Brave, kind, smart and a bender." Sokka ticked off his fingers. "Pfft, Katara, she's just telling you what she thinks you want to hear. Who doesn't want a brave, smart and kind badass bender? You can't just do everything she says."

"But she knows things," Katara insisted.

"Wait, so if she said you'd marry Zuko, would you do it? Or would you admit that she's off her tree?" Sokka asked.

"Hey, Sokka! Leave me out of this. I don't want to marry your sister."

"I don't want to marry you either," Katara snapped back at him. "You'd be the papaya of husbands."

"Are you trying to insult me? Is that meant to be bad? Because I'd love a papaya husband ... I mean wife! I'd love a papaya wife."

"Well, your papaya wife is not going to be me!" Katara fired back.

"Obviously!" Zuko said hotly. "You hate papaya!"

"Where's Aang?" she asked suddenly, looking around a little nervously.

"He's going around asking romantic couples how they got together," Sokka said, pointing across the square where they could see Aang talking to a happy looking couple. "He's probably looking for tips to get himself a papaya wife too."

Zuko made a face at him.

"Oh, slush," Katara said, looking chagrined. "Sokka, can you talk to him for me?"

"About what?" Sokka said, feigning ignorance.

"About, you know, his crush and ... his feelings for … I'm ... I don't—oh, don't make me say it." Katara abandoned her papaya and put her head in her hands.

Sokka smiled fondly down at her and let her off the hook. He knew what she was talking about. So did Zuko. Even the fruit guy probably knew by now.

"Look, I'll try, but he hasn't really gotten the hint so far," Sokka said. "C'mon, Zuko."

"Oh no. _I'm out._ I don't want to be there for that conversation. Can't you do it when I am not handcuffed to you?" Zuko complained dramatically.

"I'm not going to have that conversation with him right now. I'm going to the bathroom," Sokka said.

"I don't want to be there for that either!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Look, if you just look away and don't listen and pretend you're not there, it will be fine." Sokka explained.

"Katara, can you do me a favour and just stab me in the eye with that pineapple? I would prefer that to bathroom breaks attached to Sokka," Zuko said, turning to Katara.

She laughed because she thought he was joking.

"Move your arse already," Sokka said, shaking the chain. "I have to pee and do ... the other one."

"Monkeyfeathers. Can't you just give me the benefit of the doubt for five minutes? I don't want to be there while you do that!" Zuko said, exasperated.

"Katara, don't stab Zuko in the eye. Just make him shift himself so I can go to the bathroom already," Sokka said, appealing to his sister.

Instead of pineapple stabbing, Katara held out her hand. "Just attach him to me, go to the bathroom, then go talk to Aang."

"Katara..." Sokka began.

"I'm a waterbender, Sokka. I can handle the papaya husband," she said reassuringly to her brother while pointing at Zuko. "Besides, Aunt Wu said I would choose to put up with an annoying boy, even though his behaviour was annoying. It's obviously Zuko."

Zuko felt the strange mix of emotions that occur when one is both supremely offended but also extremely grateful. If she didn't hate papaya so much, he could've kissed Katara right then for saving him from having to stand idly next to Sokka while that idiot performed his ablutions.

"Hey, guys," Aang said as he sauntered over.

"Hey, Aang," the two Water Tribe kids said rather brightly.

"Did you want some fruit?" Katara offered.

"Oh, you know me, I don't really care what I eat," Aang said with a shrug.

This was obviously untrue. Aang told at least every second person he met about his vegetarianism. Zuko had already heard about it for a full twenty minutes this morning when he first woke up.

Oh, to be rudely awoken by a perky vegetarian and tied to rock again, he thought nostalgically.

There had been an awkward silence, as no one in the group seemed to know how to respond to Aang's feigned nonchalance.

"That's nice," Katara eventually said.

"Hey, Sokka, you want to go on a hike up the mountain with me?" Aang said, turning to Sokka happily.

"Yes, Sokka does!" Katara volunteered for him.

-o-

Katara sat next to Zuko, picking at the papaya, and trying to gather her thoughts as she watched the boy next to her. He was sitting on the steps next to her, legs out long, leaning on his good arm. This seemed to be the easiest way to sit while handcuffed together. Katara watched Zuko out of the corner of her eye. She tried to figure him out.

He perplexed her. He was a Fire Nation prince who didn't think he was the bad guy in this scenario.

Now that she'd spent more time with him (time in which he was not actively trying to capture her friend and the world's last hope for peace), she had concluded that while he could definitely be a jerk, he wasn't evil. He was perpetually irritated and exasperated by her brother, but he'd actually been very nice to her this morning. Cooperative even. He'd helped her start the breakfast fire without her even having to ask.

He'd listened patiently to Aang's "health benefits of vegetarianism" rant and agreed to eat more broccoli. That had been a surprise! He seemed so hot-headed and impatient most of the time. Seeing him gently humouring Aang had been jarring.

So she'd sent Aang on an errand so that he would definitely be far away. Then she'd wandered over and loosened the ropes. She had done this mostly just to see what Zuko would do in response. She had huge misgivings about Sokka's plan, but had gone along with it. They'd been near the river, after all, and her bending was getting really good. She had thought it was worth the risk. She had wanted to see if Zuko would try anything.

But he'd just sighed expansively and stretched his body in a manner that was most distracting. Katara really hadn't seen that many boys around her own age bare-chested before, and she had found herself blushing furiously and looking away.

She'd cut up his shirt yesterday when she'd taken the arrow out. She had decided then that she needed to find another shirt for him, and quickly!

Luckily, he'd had a spare, plain, grey tunic in his bag. He'd actually smiled when she had given it to him, or at least his scowl had dropped away momentarily. He'd said "thanks" softly. She'd turned away then and pretended to busy herself by the fire, but Zuko had never really tried to escape her, even though she'd given him a few opportunities. That rang some alarm bells for Katara.

"So, I have a question," she began. Zuko turned to her to show he was listening. "Why didn't you escape earlier? I basically left you untied. You burned through the ropes so easily this morning with the platypus bear. You really could have escaped any time."

Zuko looked startled like he'd been caught doing something terrible. He turned his face away, but didn't respond. Katara didn't need him to. She'd figured out what she wanted to say.

"Just so you know, I think dragging you along with us so we can sell you back to your uncle, or whatever, is a stupid idea. A terrible idea. I am going along with it because the alternative is to abandon you injured and alone in the forest, and I don't like doing things like that."

He'd turned back to her when she mentioned the possibility of abandoning him in the woods, his eyes wide. For a brief moment, he looked so vulnerable and worried. She felt the mad urge to comfort him then, but, thankfully, he looked away again. It was easy to say what she was going to say if she didn't have to look into his sad eyes.

"See, I think Sokka is over-the-top paranoid most of the time, but I don't think he's wrong. I think you still want to catch Aang. And I just want you to know that I'm watching you. If you ever try to hurt Aang, it is going to be the last thing you ever do. Are we clear?"

She tried to put as much menace into her threat as she could. It was tricky to seem badass and menacing when you were handcuffed and sitting side by side with a person, but Katara thought she got it.

"Yes," Zuko said simply.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"I don't want to _hurt_ Aang," he said after a moment.

"But you still want to capture him, don't you?"

It wasn't really a question. They both knew the answer. He didn't respond, but he didn't lie to her either by denying it. She appreciated that.

"Try to understand," he said softly. "It's the only way I get to go home."

"You've got to understand that the world needs Aang more than you need to go home to your evil dad," she snapped at him.

He got angry then and stood up abruptly, which pulled Katara up too. "You don't know anything about it!" he huffed at her.

"What's so great about the Fire Nation anyway?" she huffed back.

He quickly covered her mouth with lightning speed. His big hand was over her lips and he pulled her close so their bodies were pressed against each other. She felt shock at the sudden warmth surrounding her. It must have looked a little like he was hugging her from the outside.

"Ssshhhh. Shut up about me being from _that place_ ," he whispered against her ear before letting her go just as quickly. He looked around at the square. People were watching them. "Let's go," he said abruptly, and then turned to walk off.

Katara kept step beside him, giving him side-eyes.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to grab you like that," he said after a moment.

It was all Katara could do not to stop and stare. Had she heard right? He was apologising to her?

"Why don't you want me to mention ...where you are from?" she asked slowly, trying to avoid saying Fire Nation.

"We are in the North Volcanic Region," Zuko said.

Katara didn't understand what he meant by that. They walked further into the quieter streets of Makapu. Zuko looked around in a paranoid fashion before he told her.

"Not long ago, in this region, there were some ... unsuccessful campaigns." He sounded really sad when he said 'unsuccessful campaigns'. There was a hidden emotion in his voice that Katara couldn't pinpoint. There was no trace of his usual anger or sullen snark. "There was actually a great deal of men who deserted the Fire Nation ... not long after my father became Fire Lord. It was treason, but they left anyway. Whole units sometimes. Even one of our best generals left his post. There's probably some deserters still living in hiding in the region."

There was a long pause, and Katara thought he wasn't going to continue, but she waited anyway.

"Some of them were caught by the local militia here or they were turned in by townspeople who figured out who they were." He lowered his voice. "If a firebender is caught by the Earth Kingdom outside the colonies, the common punishment is to crush their hands and feet between boulders. That stops them bending."

Katara stared at him horrified. That was so awful. Having your bending crushed out of you; she felt sick to think of it. She couldn't quite believe it. It was so evil, it sounded like something the Fire Nation would do. Only the Fire Nation could come up with something so inhumane. She was sure the Earth Kingdom would never stoop to Fire Nation levels. She expressed her disbelief.

"You calling me a liar? Why would I make something like this up?" Zuko said, sounding quietly furious.

"I'm not saying you're lying. You obviously believe it. It just sounds like something the Fire Nation would tell the troops to stop them running off. _Ohh, don't go deserting or the big bad earthbenders are going to crush your hands and feet if you leave_." She lowered her voice and imitated what she imagined a Fire Nation General would sound like.

"They tried to do it to my uncle! He was just having a bath in one of the hot springs and they caught him and I only got there just in time to stop them!" he shouted back at her, amber eyes blazing.

He tried to storm off, but Katara stood her ground firmly. He took two furious paces on his long legs until the chain between their linked wrists yanked him back.

"I'm sorry, okay. I didn't know that," Katara said, feeling like she was sliding the lid back over a can of worms—a can of worms she wasn't sure if she was ready to open.

Zuko stared at her for a long moment. She stared back. It was almost like they were having a staring competition.

He nodded at her after a beat. "Okay."

They started walking again.

"Sorry I shouted at you," he said.

"It's okay. You shouted so much at Sokka when he was first handcuffed to you, I was beginning to feel left out," Katara said, trying for a joke to alleviate the mood. Jokes really weren't her strong point, she knew that, but Zuko hid an amused smile anyway.

"Well, you're much less annoying than Sokka," he said after a moment.

Aang and Sokka still weren't back from their walk by the time Zuko and Katara returned to the square. At first they waited around the fountain square again, but Katara got bored quickly. She was so used to doing things. Just mooching around waiting for Aang and Sokka was getting on her nerves. Zuko wasn't very talkative and seemed deep in thought. He'd been starring at one crack in the cobblestones for the past twenty minutes.

"How long do you think they'll be?" Katara asked, poking him out of his reverie. He seemed a bit irritated at being interrupted from his very-deep-and-serious-thoughts.

"How should I know?" he grumbled back.

"It's tricky. If they come back soon then we should keep waiting here. But if they're going to be much longer, we should probably get some lunch. What do you think?" Katara asked.

Zuko shrugged, then winced horribly as that movement jarred his shoulder. He swore through clenched teeth.

"I told you not to move it so much. It's still healing," Katara chided.

"How long will it be until I can shrug again?" Zuko responded.

Katara honestly didn't know. It had been a savage injury. The arrow had been very deep with a jagged tip. Normally it would have taken ages to heal (normally, it most probably would have killed him, but she did not say this). But then Katara had done that weird thing with the blood, and it had seemed a lot better than she had expected this morning. It was anyone's guess, really. Zuko was unimpressed with this answer.

"Why don't we just ask Aunt Wu?" he asked sarcastically before lifting the pitch in his voice and doing an impression of her. "She knows things."

Katara elbowed him. "She does know things."

"She knows she likes your money."

"It's a free service," Katara pointed out.

"That's not my point," Zuko grumbled, even though Katara could tell that it had actually been his point. He searched around for another point. "My point is that she is obviously a fraud."

"So you agree with Sokka?" Katara asked, feeling a little affronted.

Zuko had mentioned the benefits of fortune-telling many times on the walk into town. Perhaps this had just been to annoy Sokka. Still, he spoke about destiny and spirits like he believed in them, and this sudden change in attitude bothered Katara.

"Don't you believe in destiny or signs from the spirits or any of that?" she asked.

"Look, I'm just saying it's easy for her to look at someone's hand and mumble some bullshit about—" Zuko waved their chained hands like he was trying to gesture an imaginary fortune out of thin air "—your rising sign being up in the Great Platypus Bear, and water lilies have wisdom or whatnot. Then people will read into it whatever they want," he finished, sounding content with his explanation.

"So you think I'm just 'reading into it' when she tells me explicitly to eat papaya because I'll come to love it one day?" Katara queried.

"Okay, that advice was pretty specific," Zuko conceded.

"Why don't we go get another reading?" Katara suggested, somewhat hopefully.

Aunt Wu wouldn't see her on her own anymore, so she needed somebody else to go with her. Besides, it wasn't the worst idea. They were at a loose end. It would settle the question of Aunt Wu's powers once and for all. If Aunt Wu could prove her skill, then Sokka would have to admit she was a great fortune teller and fortune-telling was real.

"No," Zuko said flatly.

"C'mon, it'll be fun," Katara said, trying to cajole him.

"No, it won't. I bet that she is just going to mumble some mumbo jumbo about flowers and self-inflicted misery."

"Okay. Fine. You can think that, but if she says something that is true and real, then you have to admit that I am right and agree with me on everything against Sokka for a whole day ...and you have to talk about how great Aunt Wu is." Katara offered.

Zuko raised his good eyebrow at her and thought for a second. "Okay, but if I win, you have to eat another papaya."

"Deal," Katara agreed excitedly.

-0-

Aunt Wu was not excited to see her again. "I can do no more readings for you today, Katara," she sighed when she opened the door to see Katara's hopeful face again.

"It's not for me, but for him," Katara said as she nudged Zuko forward.

Zuko sighed reluctantly and stepped up next to her. Aunt Wu looked at them, pausing emphatically when she saw the handcuffs.

"Eer...we've accidentally handcuffed ourselves together too," Katara explained sheepishly.

Aunt Wu raised an eyebrow and looked Zuko up and down rather judgementally. "Why does this keep happening to you, boy?" she asked with some exasperation.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Zuko replied sardonically.

Aunt Wu gestured for them to follow her, which Katara did eagerly. Zuko muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "can't believe you talked me into this" as he followed grumpily, but without further fuss, which Katara took as a victory.

Aunt Wu took his hand and examined it closely, clicking her tongue in consternation. "Mmmmmm, very interesting."

There was a long, awkward pause.

"Well, what does that mean?" Zuko asked impatiently.

"You have been thinking much more on the past recently, yes?" Aunt Wu asked in response.

"And you have been longing for a faraway place. A warm place ...with deep green rainforests, pale sandy beaches and coral reefs." She narrowed her eyes in concentration.

Katara could feel Zuko tense up instantly when Aunt Wu spoke. He was looking at Aunt Wu closely now with surprise on his face.

"What else do you see?" Katara asked when nobody else said anything to fill the silence.

"I see people. There is a young woman, lovely and sad. There is a little girl with an unkind nature. There is a loving but absent uncle. There is another..." Aunt Woo squinted, looking closely at his palm before she hissed and pushed his hand away sharply. "There was a terrible presence in your life. It's a man. He is astonishingly cruel. He is lurking and waiting and then—" Aunt Wu's voice had risen dramatically and she paused here to take Zuko's hand and examine it again. "Your poor mother," she said, voice solemn.

Zuko let out a distressed gasp and grabbed Aunt Wu's hand. "What did you see about my mother? What happened to her? Where did she go?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know," Aunt Wu said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

"Look harder! Tell me!" Zuko demanded, holding his hand out again.

"I cannot see that in your hand. I am sorry," Aunt Woo said as she stood. "Perhaps if you came back alone for a different reading..."

"I don't want to do this anymore." Zuko stood up abruptly, bringing Katara with him. He looked at Katara and flushed red, as if he was embarrassed for revealing so much. Then he turned and made a break for the door.

The biggest downside of trying to storm away while handcuffed to another person was that you could only go as fast as they were walking, but Zuko tried outpacing her anyway. He was striding away, back straight and head high.

Katara had seen how raw and almost hopeful he'd been when Aunt Wu had mentioned his mother. She wouldn't be forgetting that. She walked silently beside him through the town before Zuko started making his way to the forest they had been camping in earlier.

"Where are you even going?" Katara asked as they left the last house behind.

She hadn't said much when he'd first started walking, mostly because she had no idea what to say. She really hadn't been expecting anything like that when they went into Aunt Wu's. She was full of so many questions, none of which were appropriate to ask. She really didn't know Zuko that well, after all. She felt like she couldn't just ask him what had happened to his mother. It did seem rather personal.

How did he not know what had happened to his mother? Just the mention of his mother gave Zuko the most heartbreaking look on his face, and Katara didn't understand why.

"Zuko, just stop. Let's talk about this," she said after he didn't answer her.

"No. I don't want to talk about it," he said gruffly.

"Just stop then."

"No, I'm storming off."

"Well, we shouldn't storm off too far from town. Sokka and Aang will be back soon."

"Fine, you could just unlock these," Zuko said, nodding towards the handcuffs, like he was daring her. "Then I won't be dragging you along and you can go back and wait for them."

Katara hesitated, unsure how to respond. Why had he even asked? He must have already known she wouldn't.

"Thought as much," he said with bitter resignation as he turned to stomp off again.

"Wait!" Katara said, reaching out and grabbing his hand.

She wrapped her fingers around his palm. That pulled him up abruptly. He was tense, like a polar-dog ready to bolt, and looked at her with wary eyes. She rubbed her thumb in a small, soothing circle on his palm, and he seemed to deflate before her eyes. All that puffed-up anger evaporated and was replaced by pure astonishment.

He seemed so shocked at the physical contact, of feeling her hand in his. Katara wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but it had certainly made him stop. He didn't jerk away; instead, he was watching her, waiting for what happened next.

If he had been Sokka or Aang, she would have pulled him into a hug. When Aang had been upset after they had found Monk Gyatso, she had held him for as long as it took for him to feel better.

She mentally smacked herself for even thinking that. This was Zuko, prince of the evil Fire Nation. This was the guy who had tied her to a tree. They weren't friends, let alone people who would "hug it out".

"Listen…" she started to say, even though she had nothing to back that up with.

She was trying to think of something that would make him feel better, and coming up empty. His mother was obviously gone. She knew exactly what that felt like. After all these years, it had never gotten easier, the way her heart cracked and she felt her stomach coil up whenever she thought of her mother.

Zuko seemed to have no idea what had happened to his mother, though. Katara had no idea what that would feel like, having your mother just vanish into thin air. She knew what happened to her own mother, the whole heart-breaking truth. It crushed something inside her into a smaller and smaller place whenever she thought about it. She didn't know if not knowing would be better or worse.

She knew it was a massive sore spot though, and nobody liked it when their sore spots were poked with a big stick. Her innate, persistent desire to help people had risen up, even though she knew it was ridiculous. She wanted to help soothe that sore spot, and she had no idea how to go about that.

Eating stewed sea-prunes had always helped Katara. They had been her mother's favourite and now they were Katara's. Perhaps Sokka was right. Sometimes in life, the best answer is snacks.

What was something Zuko liked?

"How about we get you a papaya?" she suggested, giving his hand a squeeze and dropping it.

"Huh? I don't understand. You hate papaya." Zuko stopped short, flabbergasted. He had clearly not been expecting her to say this. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her in confusion.

He was so moody, she thought to herself. He could go from mild sarcasm to intensely dejected and angry to sweetly confused in a flash.

"Well, I said I'd eat one if you won. You're right, Aunt Wu doesn't know everything."

Katara wanted to diffuse the situation, and trying to make light of things had worked out before. Perhaps it was being told that he was right, or perhaps it was the promise of papaya, but Zuko nodded at her and followed.

They walked back into town to the fruit stall in the square. There was still no sign of Sokka and Aang, and it seemed as good a place as any to wait for them. Katara bought herself a mango and a papaya and lime for Zuko. He'd said he wouldn't hold her to eating another one, which was nice.

He seemed surprised by her choice of mango. According to Zuko, they were really similar fruits and it was bizarre to him that she could love mango and hate papaya so much. He squeezed the lime all over his papaya and held it out to her.

"Try it with the lime," he suggested. "It's better. The tartness of the lime helps balance the sweetness."

Though Katara loathed to eat papaya again, she could see this for the peace offering it was. She braced herself and took a bite, then leaned back and looked at Zuko in surprise. It _wasn't_ terrible. It tasted okay. The overly sweet mushiness had always been off-putting for her previously, but Zuko was right, the lime did balance it out.

"Not bad." she said, and Zuko grinned at her, glad to be proven right. "I mean, the mango is still the superior fruit, but this isn't dreadful."

His grin dropped and the scowl returned. "Give me my papaya back then!" he grumbled.

They ate in silence for a few moments. Katara wouldn't say it was a comfortable silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable either. It was a new, understanding sort of silence.

"Look, I know you said you didn't want to talk about it, but if you wanted to ... I'm here," she offered quietly.

He froze, staring straight ahead and refusing to look at her, almost like he was afraid to make eye-contact with her. "You wouldn't understand," he said softly.

"My mother's gone too, you know. I know what that feels like," she confessed, feeling that old, raw hurt like a solid weight in her belly.

"What happened?" He turned to face her in surprise, eyes wide with concern.

"She's dead. The Fire Nation took her away from us," Katara said simply, feeling her throat close up. She clamped her lips together to stop them trembling, which was the tell-tale start of impending crying for her.

"I'm sorry," Zuko said gently.

Katara nodded and wiped her eyes abruptly with the back of her free hand. She felt the cautious, hesitant brush of warm fingertips before his hand enveloped hers, his thumb rubbing her palm—a mirroring gesture of the way she had slid her hand into his back on the hillside after he had stormed off.

"I really am sorry…I guess that's one thing we have in common," he all but whispered.

Now it was Katara's turn to look up in surprise. The Fire Nation had taken his mother away too? How? She thought if she asked that he might have told her then, but just at that moment Sokka and Aang burst through the corner of the square, shouting for her.

She dropped Zuko's hand quickly and turned to face the commotion. Sokka was red-faced from running and Aang was gliding gracefully to land next to her.

"We have a major issue! The volcano is about to blow!" he exclaimed.

-o-

Lovely readers.

One billion thanks to the gorgeous Boogum for her amazing beta skills!

I would like to ramble about:

Sokka and Zuko, at this stage, would have a relationship very similar to Jake Peralta and Doug Judy from B99.

The Fortune teller was a not a Kataang friendly ep.

The White lotus needs more women!

Spare a thought for Uncle Iroh!

Deserters!

My papaya spouses.

So I love Brooklyn 99. It's great. I saw the second Doug Judy episode and heard all of Jake's crazy theories for how Doug Judy would escape, like using a lobster claw for stabbing. I could actually really picture Sokka having a similar attitude to Zuko at this juncture. Sokka is not going to give him an inch, if it looks like he could use that inch to his advantage.

Zuko lowkey respects this, and recognises how smart Sokka is, despite calling him an idiot/moron etc. I think he would also be almost entertained by Sokka's ideas of how everyday objects could be used as weapons. Sokka is nothing if not versatile and creative.

Despite respecting Sokka's intelligence, Zuko is going to be on a mission to Annoy Sokka! I really like their bromance, but I think it would get off to a rocky start, given the circumstances. I also think the idea of them being handcuffed together and stuck with each other is hilarious.

The fortune-teller is also not a Kataang friendly ep. Marsreds on tumbler wrote a lovely meta about this and I agree 100%. It really sets up the fact that Aang's crush is a mirror of Meng's. It is unrequited. It could have been beautifully resolved in a similar scene, with Aang realising Katara didn't feel that way about him, and that is okay. That would have been wonderful for his character development. Aang, let me save you from season 3's terrible writing. I know you're better than how bryke wrote you! Season one Aang was such a sweetheart.

I also think everyone knows about Aang's little crush. Sokka knows. Katara knows. Zuko knows after only one morning with them. Aang was not at all subtle. The scene where Katara runs away from his love confession in the episode is ridiculous. **She can actually hear him** , but she just blithely pretends that she is deaf and runs away. This is the Katara solution to Aang's crush in season one/two. Feigning deafness and running away/changing the subject.

Sokka's teasing makes much more sense to me, when I think about the fact that _he knows_. He's a very intelligent and perceptive character. He also knows how awkward it makes Katara feel. I noticed he only ever teases Aang for the crush, because he knows it is one-sided. Sokka has a few drive-by comments to Katara in the Jet ep, and that's because he knows she has the feelings then, and he doesn't approve of Jet.

Anyway, I think his primary motivation would be (as it often is) concern for his sister. I actually don't think Sokka is that much of an overbearing brother, who would want to dominate Katara's love choices. His objection to Jet was that Jet was a psycho, not that Jet was interested in Katara in general.

THE WHITE LOTUS NEEDS MORE WOMEN!

So I will add them. Aunt Woo is just one of several female White Lotus members we will meet. I'll tell you this now: Yugoda is also going to be in the secret club, mostly because I never liked how it was such a boys club (especially up in the Northenr Water Tribe, which is already ridiculously sexist).

I think a female influence would balance it out, and save the society from the obvious pitfalls that happen in LOK. I also think, narratively speaking, that some of these female mentors could provide stand-in maternal figures for various members of the Gaang, who are all still young and several are grieving from the loss of their mothers. We can't just dump all the maternal emotional work on poor Katara! Girl is busy!

But let's spare a thought for Zuko's, poor long-suffering Uncle. Uncle Iroh is just beside himself at this point. Zuko has been missing for days. Iroh's been looking, but he would have only found the blood-filled-clearing-of-horror and a torn shirt. Iroh is hitting up all his contacts like crazy. The entire White Lotus network has gotten a similar note that could be summed up as: "Holy Crap – where my nephew at?" Now he's going to get two answers in one afternoon, one significantly more alarming than the other, but both equally strange.

So I also just planted a little seed here, about there being more deserters than just Jeong Jeong and Che. I mean there is obviously more than two. That camp has a fair few people in it, after all.

I actually think that Ozai would not have been well-respected as a Fire-Lord. He's feared. Very feared. He's a scary dude and a bit unhinged. After what he did to his own son so publicly for something so minor, all of his critics would have shut the F up out of plain old self-preservation. Nobody wants to poke that crazy dragon... So he would mostly rule by fear. Also the Fire Nation is a dictatorship with obedience to the Fire-lord seen as paramount.

But Ozai wouldn't be beloved by the people. He wouldn't be seen as a wise and good leader. He would have been seen as usurping Iroh. The whole succession thing would have stunk to high heaven as well. How the hell did he explain his wife vanishing and Firelord Azulon changing succession just before he died – the same night his wife vanish? I theorize Ozai handled this situation by being the scariest bastard ever, so that people would be too terrified to ask him sticky questions.

I think he would have favoured brutal approaches, such as the plan promoted by general Bujing that causes the Agni Kai between him and Zuko. These are not ...good plans. Morality aside, from a practical perspective these plans are actually seriously wasteful and harmful to moral, if heaps of young units keep being slaughtered. I think that deserters would have become increasingly more common during his reign. Jeong Jeong would have deserted during Ozai's time.

Ah, my papaya spouses, how you will regret the words you have hastily spoken in front of Sokka this day.

So Zuko and Katara had such an interesting dynamic. In the CoD, they just...opened up to each other...within like 2 minutes...of being in the same space. Within one conversation, Zuko let Katara touch his scar, which I think would have been really bloody personal, right there, and Katara offered to heal him, and I just...gaaah.

Marsred said it best:

Never forget that Zuko and Katara came together in "The Crossroads of Destiny" entirely on their own. There was no saving each other from Zhao, no good word from Iroh, no necessity of a firebending teacher. There was just the two of them, in a cave of glowing green crystals.

And it was enough.

These two would gravitate towards each other pretty quickly. Because they have been thrown together by crazy circumstances a lot earlier, it makes sense that some of their development would happen a lot sooner. The subject of missing/dead mothers happens here, because I feel like that subject would come up pretty quickly.

Katara would be the first one to properly break the touch barrier. She is a touchy-feely person after all. Poor season one Zuko is so touch-starved and affection-starved. Poor boy. He gets so little love. I think Katara reaching out to comfort him physically would have surprised the bejeezus out of him. I think she would initiate most of the touching between them, especially at the start, but Zuko would learn quickly and mirror her gestures of affection.

And now for a culinary note:

I, like Katara, thought I didn't like papaya. I always found them too sweet and cloying. Then I tried papaya and lime – oh boy! Taste sensation. The flavours balance perfectly. The fruit is a metaphor for their love! They balance each other out. It also ties in nicely to Aunt Woo's prophecy for Katara. Katara will come to love papaya and lime, even though she thought she didn't like it at first.

Kataang was plain old papaya: sweetie, sweetie, sweetie – blergh, too cloying for me.

Zutara is papaya and lime: mmmmhhh delicious balance.

Next chapter there will be shenanigans with a volcano. Who comes from a volcanic archipelago and can redirect heat, but also makes dumbass choices without thought of consequences? We all know who.


	4. the volcano

\- The volcano -

Everyone had agreed that Sokka's plan to get Aunt Wu to make a new cloud reading was the best way to save Makapu. Zuko had mentioned making trenches to divert the lava flow and also warned about poisonous gases from the ash cloud, but the villagers wouldn't even take action unless it was Aunt Wu approved.

So Aang had left to go pinch the cloud book, leaving Sokka, Katara and Zuko alone. Katara took a moment to unlock her side of the handcuffs and attach them back to Sokka, as per the original arrangement. She casually placed her hand on the Angry Jerk's shoulder and gave a little reassuring squeeze as she did this. Zuko leaned towards her and reached up to brush her hand with his fingertips before covering her hand with his own. Sokka coughed pointedly, loudly and disgustedly.

What in _frozen hell_ was this?

Katara was impossible.

Two hours was all it took for her bleeding-heart, I-want-to-help-and-save-everyone-no-matter-how-big-a-jerk-they-are shtick to kick in! Any boy vaguely close to her age with sad eyes and a tragic story was like a magnet to Katara.

She gravitated towards that shit.

It always brought out her dangerous side too, and that was the problem. Helping-mode Katara had zero sense of self-preservation and was extremely attracted to danger (like getting thrown in prison for Haru and all days associated with that asshole, Jet).

Sokka had only left her alone with Zuko for two hours and now she was looking at the boy like she wanted to snuggle him, almost like she had forgotten completely that he was a firebender and firebenders were not snugly. Sokka had the feeling that if he ever left them alone again, snuggling would happen! Sokka knew that look in her eye. It was the source of much anxiety for him. There would be no snuggling of firebenders on Sokka's watch!

"Give me that!" Sokka said, snatching the other handcuff off her.

She glanced apologetically at Zuko before saying that she was going to get Appa ready for their cloudbending mission. She then glared at both of them in turn. "Be nice, both of you!" she said in a warning tone, pointing between them.

Be nice? To a firebender? Surely she was joking! Before Sokka could argue with her, she turned and flounced off towards Appa.

"So … what happened while I was gone?" Sokka asked, raising his eyebrow with a great deal of insinuation.

Zuko played dumb. "We went to get our fortunes told again."

"Aaaannd?"

A decidedly wicked grin came over Zuko's face. He turned slowly and looked Sokka dead in the eye. "Aunt Wu is amazing. She's a marvel. She just _knows things_."

He said this in such a deadpan tone of voice that Sokka couldn't tell if Zuko was being sarcastic and taking the piss or was actually serious. The poor bastard had to hang out with Katara for two hours and she'd dragged him back to Aunt Wu's? Maybe prolonged exposure to fortune-telling mumbo-jumbo had wrecked his brain.

"You know," Zuko added, "there is a real science to fortune-telling."

Sokka knew that last comment was just to annoy him. Zuko knew how much he liked science and now he was dragging poor science's name into the fortune-telling mud just to get a rise out of him.

"Shut up," Sokka said, giving the other boy a shove.

Zuko shoved him back. Sokka sighed. This was going to be his lot in life now. Chained perpetually to a moody, sarcastic firebender—as if Zuko was the physical embodiment of all Sokka's poor life choices. Aunt Wu was right about one thing only: Sokka did have a knack for bringing misery upon himself. He couldn't trust Zuko around Aang. He couldn't trust Katara around Zuko. He was just going to have to keep an eye on the bastard and assume full responsibility for his jerk-bending self all on his own.

"You are the worst prisoner!" he hissed at Zuko. "You know that right? The worst!"

"Really? Thanks. And I didn't even have to resort to the Annoying Song to beat you as the worst prisoner."

"Look, just shut up and tell me how these volcanic trenches work already."

Zuko raised his good eyebrow. "Shut up and tell you …"

Sokka just knew a comment was about to be made at his expense for his poor choice of words. In a fit of maturity, he poked Zuko in the shoulder in pre-emptive retaliation. Zuko swore explosively, called Sokka several choice names, and kicked him in the shin. Sokka grabbed his shin, hopping up and down and trying to rub it better. This commotion caused him to topple over and drag Zuko down with him. They ended up in a winded heap in the dirt. They lay in a mess of limbs for a moment, disorientated.

"Guys, I don't feel like you're even _trying_ to be friends," came the cheery yet gently admonishing voice of Aang from somewhere above them.

-o-

Aang helped them disentangle themselves. He scolded them both in his Aang way, showed them the cloud book and which formation he and Katara were going to bend, then he scooted off to save the town.

Surprisingly, Zuko felt a little ashamed of himself after an Aang scolding. He didn't like Makapu that much and thought all the inhabitants were idiots, but it wouldn't be right to not help save them from themselves. It would make him an awful person if all these people died a fiery, volcanic death just because he couldn't get along with Sokka for five minutes.

Sokka seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he listened without saying anything dick-ish for at least ten minutes while Zuko explained how some firebenders could train to become sensitive to the movement of hot magma within the volcanoes. There was someone assigned to monitor every active volcano on the home islands. In the Fire Nation, they normally had lots of warning before an eruption. There were several things you could do to protect towns from lava, but deep trenches to redirect the lava were the most common. Sokka said he assumed Zuko was going to try and use the trench for evil purposes, such as pushing everyone down into it, then escaping to catch Aang. They squabbled a little before getting back on track.

Sokka said that he hadn't seen any type of lava-destruction prevention as he climbed up the hill with Aang. Zuko thought it was probably because the volcano had been dormant for ages. When volcanoes went dormant, people got lazy and complacent. They forgot how destructive volcanoes were.

Sokka gave him a long, evaluating look. His eyes were the same deep blue as his sister's, but much more judgemental and calculating. Though Zuko went on about how Sokka was an idiot, he knew it would be a mistake to underestimate his intelligence.

Sokka said that as soon as Aunt Wu saw the new shape in the clouds, all the earthbenders would be willing to help build the trenches. That would make quick work of it; there were lots of earthbenders here, after all. Zuko agreed, but cautioned that they might not be sufficient. Any channels they whacked together would have to be really deep and wide, because there wasn't really time to build a complex network. They had to hope that the eruption was only small.

The clouds above them began rapidly changing shape. Sokka took that as their cue to take the cloud book back to Aunt Wu and point out the new formation. She told the town and, just like Sokka had predicted, they immediately started evacuating and organising. The earthbenders set to building trenches as fast as they could. This was good, but it was too little, too late.

Zuko felt the tell-tale rumble under his feet just moments before the mountain erupted. It was spewing a choking, blazing-hot dust cloud. The village exploded into pandemonium with shrieks and cries of panic as everybody began to flee into the valley. The lava oozed down the mountainside.

Zuko could see Aang airbending, trying to cool the lava from the outside and redirect the poisonous gases, but he couldn't concentrate on two things at once. Zuko knew how to draw heat from the centre of a lava cluster. He could help Aang there at least.

He moved towards the mountain, only to be yanked back by his wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka shouted over the clamouring sound of the chaos all around them.

"Sokka, let me go. I can help Aang!" Zuko yanked at the chain between them.

"I don't believe you! You're going to do something bad, I know it!"

"Sokka, we don't have time for this! I'm a firebender! I can redirect the heat!"

Sokka looked like he wanted to argue, but was distracted by Katara landing behind him on Appa.

Zuko grabbed Sokka's arm firmly. "Look, I promise I'm not going to run off and stab you in the eye with a pineapple! But if we don't stop this thing, everyone in the town is going to die! You've got to let me go help!"

Sokka muttered something that sounded like "don't make me regret this" as he pulled out a key from one of his many pockets. The lock that had been weighing Zuko down all day clicked opened and he nearly sagged in relief.

He really was putting up with a lot of ridiculousness to go along with this kidnapping plan all in the hope that he would eventually get a chance to catch Aang. But being restricted and confined all day, not to mention not doing everything he could to escape, had really set his teeth on edge.

Now he was free.

He was free but in front of the blazing inferno caused by the volcano. The lava was streaming down the hill now, and the air felt thick and heavy with smoke and sulphur.

Zuko may have overplayed his hand a little with Sokka. Technically, he knew _how_ to take the heat out of lava, but this was something he had never actually practised. Zuko felt the weight and seriousness of the situation hit him like a tonne of stone.

Zuko had a moment of uncertainty. This was stupid. The volcano in front of him was erupting! He should be running. He didn't know if he could stop a volcano. Why had he volunteered for this? To save the village? To get away from Sokka?

Surely, being chained to Sokka wasn't that bad. He hated this village anyway.

Zuko glanced behind him at the village, at all those people frightened because their home was about to be destroyed, and felt resolve stiffen his spine. He had to try.

Sokka and Katara were also still standing there with ash falling about them like rain, which kind of annoyed Zuko. Didn't those morons know to run? They should save themselves at least. He gestured for them to run away with his good arm before turning back to the hillside. Closer to the trench, he could see the lava lapping at the lip. It was nearly overflowing.

Once, Uncle had found a hot spring and had refused to leave for over two hours, insisting Zuko relax. Zuko had not wanted to relax. In fact, rather than relax, Zuko had put one arm in the water and extended the other one up over his head and into the air. He'd funnelled the heat out of the water until it was frigidly cold and Uncle gave a yelp of surprise. Zuko could try something similar here. He'd need both his arms to do this.

He wrenched his right arm out of the sling and gasped at the agony that sudden movement caused. He determinedly pushed all thoughts of the pain away. He couldn't lose his nerve now. He been hurt many times before and he'd always had to struggle and fight through it. It had made him strong.

He reached out towards the heat. He focussed his mind on pulling the heat up, through his limbs and along his chi pathways, and out. The bright, molten surface of the magma in the trench started to darken and harden. It was working!

Aang landed lightly next to him and started blasting the lava sloshing at the top with cold air. After what felt like only a few moments, the lava near the edge of the trench had hardened into a crust, keeping the rest of the magma at bay.

"We did it!" Aang said happily.

Zuko nearly collapsed in relief, feeling like he had no energy left after expending that much chi channelling the heat. He felt completely drained and so, so glad it was over. Though he always said he'd never give up without a fight, at this exact moment, there was very little fight left in him.

"Nice work, Aang," he said.

Aang gave him a huge, open smile. "Thanks for helping!" he said, cheerful as always, even after nearly dying from a volcano.

Zuko had thought the constant perkiness would annoy him, but he had actually gotten used to it.

 _You could grab him now. Everyone is busy with the volcano. You're untied and right next to him._

The thought occurred to Zuko right then. He felt, surprisingly, a pinprick of guilt and uncertainty. Before he had a chance to act on this impulse, there was a defining whoosh from above them as the mountain exploded with a secondary, enormous eruption.

They were screwed, Zuko realised with horror.

They were so screwed!

This town was screwed!

There was no amount of heat redirecting that could save this place now, especially without an adequate channel system built. The only thing to do was run for their lives.

Aang stared at the volcano in horror and awe and froze completely. Zuko reached out and grabbed him and gave him a shake to snap him out of it.

"Aang, we've got to get out of here!" Zuko shouted over the thunderous explosion from the summit of the mountain. "There's nothing we can do now!"

Aang continued to gaze at the mountain, mouth open like a fish. Zuko took Aang's arm and pulled him along. They ran down the hill and away from the lava. He hadn't got shot in Pohuai for Aang to now die staring gormless at a volcano.

Aang suddenly wrenched free from his grip with incredible strength, his tattoos glowing faintly. "I know what to do."

His voice sounded so unlike his normal self, like it was made up of many, many people coming from everywhere. It was old, ancient and wise. Aang flew up out of Zuko's reach and into the smoke.

Zuko ran down to the village where Sokka and Katara were still waiting like total idiots. The clouds above them began to move angrily again. Zuko heard a loud rumble from behind him.

They were all going to die here, horribly.

All of _that_ had been for nothing.

Even Katara was going to die here, he thought sadly as he looked at her. She was the only one of them he could stand to be around for long periods of time.

It wasn't fair!

He didn't want to die like this, surrounded by blazing hot lava, burned all over. That would be like … it would be worse than …

He tried to brace himself for horrible, fiery oblivion.

But the fiery oblivion never came.

There was an enormous blast of icy cold air that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. It slammed them all backwards with an incredible force. They all lost their footing and were momentarily carried through the air, ending up in a pile together against the wall of a shop. The clouds rushed crazily around them for a few moments before vanishing. The sky was clear and the sun shone through. A strange, eerie silence settled over the town.

Zuko opened his eyes to see that the lava had been frozen solid to obsidian, formed by the strongest air blast Zuko had ever felt from Aang. It arched above the town like a graceful wave glittering in the sun. It was beautiful.

"Wow, sometimes I forget that kid is one powerful bender," Sokka observed as he looked at the newly created rock formation.

"What did you say?" Katara asked, turning to look at her brother curiously.

"Just Aang is one powerful bender."

"Well, he is the Avatar," Zuko said, feeling like he was stating the obvious. "Aren't they all meant to be powerful?" Being a powerful bender was the _whole point_ of being the avatar. "Thank goodness he could use his powers here."

He knew they all would have been dead if Aang hadn't used his Avatar powers to stop the volcano. Zuko had not thought very positively of Aang's Avatar powers in the past. Aang's Avatar powers normally meant a great deal of destruction was coming for Zuko. Now he confessed that there were definitely benefits to Aang's abilities.

"Why do you say that?" Katara said, turning to him and sounding alarmed. "Did he go into the Avatar State?"

"No, I don't think so, but his tattoos were glowing a little, and when he spoke to me it sounded like it was the voice of a hundred different people."

Katara relaxed a little after his explanation. Aang had done that before? Spoken like he was a hundred different people? And that was considered normal? Weird.

For a moment they all rested against the wall together in an exhausted silence. Even Sokka was quiet, which was a rare miracle. They were watching Aang as he landed some way up the hill. He wandered around his obsidian arch with open delight.

"Hey, guys!" he yelled happily to them. "Do you see how cool this is? Did I do this?"

Aang found so much joy in everything. Zuko couldn't even remember the last time he'd been as happy as Aang seemed to be on a random Tuesday morning. Right now, after saving a town and making a crazy obsidian creation, his smile was brighter than the sun. He seemed so innocent and happy.

 _How could anyone ever want to hurt a kid like that?_

Zuko had a moment of discomfort, thinking about how relentlessly he'd pursued them across the world and not ever thinking of things like personal safety (his or theirs). He hadn't been lying when he told Katara that he hadn't actively wanted to hurt Aang before, but he had been determined to catch him, whatever the cost, without really thinking what would happen to Aang afterwards. He hadn't really thought about anything beyond catching Aang, really. Aang was a means to an end—the only way to get back home.

Katara suggested that they all get up and help the town. Sokka grumbled about how his whole body was sore. Zuko fired back that Sokka hadn't really _done_ anything. Sokka flicked a little rock at him. Zuko flicked it back lazily. Sokka tried to flick it back, but Katara caught it mid-air.

"Let's go help," she said more firmly.

Aang landed next to her and reached down to pull her up. "Katara, did you see me? Did you see what I did?"

"I did, Aang. You were amazing."

She rubbed his bald head affectionately and gave him a little kiss on his forehead, like a doting mother. Aang blushed bright red.

Sokka and Zuko exchanged a _look,_ then Sokka rolled his eyes in Aang's direction and made a face.

Zuko grinned back. "Your talk didn't work," he whispered.

Sokka shrugged, indicating that he wasn't going to tilt at the windmill that was Aang's perpetually obvious crush on Katara again today. "I'm letting him have it," he whispered back.

They both turned to see Aang almost glowing in joy from Katara's motherly fussing. Sokka snickered.

Katara turned grumpily towards her brother, though her words were aimed at Aang. "I was just telling these two lazy-bones that we should go help out in the town."

"Na-uh, I'm not moving," Sokka declared. "I'm waiting for the feast and celebration to come to me."

"Feast and celebration?" Zuko asked slowly.

Not moving did sound good. He was exhausted. He wasn't lazy for thinking that! He had just re-directed the heat out of a butt-load of lava. That was exhausting!

"Whenever we save a town, they normally throw a feast and celebration for us!" Aang explained. "I guess you haven't had too many feast and celebrations when you come into town because you're Fire Nation and nobody likes the Fire Nation much at the moment." He sounded a little sheepish towards the end, but he recovered quickly with a bright smile. "Anyway, there's always great snacks for Sokka, Katara normally makes a speech, and I get to show everybody _this_!" Aang pulled a marble out of his sleeve and made it spin around between his hands.

Zuko looked at the spinning marble. It was mesmerising, but the little whooshing sound it made was a little irritating. However, Zuko wasn't going to expend energy getting grumpy at Aang about that after the kid had just saved them all. Besides, Zuko felt vaguely unsettled about something Aang had said. There was something he should be worried about right now, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe he was just disgruntled because, as Aang had accurately summarised, no one had thrown a celebration for Zuko in a very long time.

Aang seemed to be looking at him expectantly, waiting for a response. Zuko realised with a start that he was still doing that stupid party trick. Zuko had been about to say "that's a really good trick, Aang" when he became aware of footsteps from close by.

"He's Fire Nation?" a voice demanded.

It was the calm man from the forest, the first one from this stupid village they had met. A crowd of villages had been following the man, shuffling up the hill to see the Avatar and thank him for saving the town (and also to get a closer look at the new, cool rock formation). Zuko lifted his head and looked at them. They looked back at him with open hostility and fear.

"He's got the eyes of one," someone said, pointing at him. "Look at 'im!"

"I heard the girl say he was Fire Nation this morning in the marketplace," came another voice from the crowd, a woman this time.

"I heard him tell the Water Tribe boy that he was a firebender just before!" another declared.

Zuko pushed himself to his feet, anger giving him a surge of strength. "Only so he would let me go so I could save your stupid village, you idiots!" Zuko snarled, forgetting his fatigue and too furious to be afraid.

"Let you go? So you admit it: you're their Fire Nation prisoner!" a man said from further back. The crowd was getting bigger now, angry and jostling.

"I knew it!" someone else shouted. "You didn't accidentally handcuff yourselves! That's how they're stopping you from killing us all!"

"He's probably the real reason the volcano went off! He woke it up with his firebending! He nearly destroyed the whole town!"

Zuko gaped incredulously at the idiot. They were blaming him for the volcano because he was a firebender ...

He felt strange kinship with Sokka for the boy's ongoing frustration with this idiot town and his strange mission to make them "see the light" about the importance of science. The urge to correct these idiots and tell them " _that's not how volcanoes fucking work, you morons"_ was so strong for Zuko in that moment.

Katara moved to stand in front of him, hands out. "Everybody, calm down!"

A large rock sailed past her, hitting Zuko hard in the sternum with enough force to lift him off his feet. He collided painfully with the wall behind him, hearing a crack that he really hoped wasn't his bones. His head spun and dark spots danced before his eyes.

"Get him!" someone yelled.

Then the mob did what mobs do.

-o-

This was total chaos! This was awful! There was so much violence and anger. This was so against everything the monks had ever taught him. Aang didn't know what to do. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but those people sounded like they wanted to kill Zuko just because he was Fire Nation, not even because he had done anything wrong.

The monks had explained to him that the other nations saw fit to kill people when they had committed what was considered a serious crime. Though the monks disagreed with taking a life, it was not their place to meddle in the way other nations upheld their laws.

Zuko hadn't even broken any laws in this town, as far as Aang knew. He'd just helped them save the town. It didn't make sense.

Aang threw an air blast at the mob, dislodging a few people. His first blast wasn't enough to stop them. The monks had always told him to never wound when you can heal the breach in other ways. If he could just calm them down and talk to them. Make them listen.

A blur of yellow caught Aang's attention. Aunt Wu's robes swished around her. She was red-faced as she rushed up the hill into the melee. It was as if she had come in answer to Aang's unspoken plea to the spirits. The villagers would listen to her.

"Aunt Wu, do something!" Aang pleaded.

"I will get their attention and you use that moment to save your friend," Aunt Wu huffed, trying to catch her breath. Then she stood up straight and held out her arms. "Citizens of Makapu! Leave the firebender and lend me your ears, for I have had a great insight into the future today …"

Amazingly, the villagers all looked up, distracted by Aunt Wu and her words. They had always had so much faith in her in the past.

Katara had been the closest to Zuko and took full advantage of the distraction to pull him out of the fray. Sokka helped her. They ducked down the nearest alley and kept running. Somehow, they all made it onto Appa without alerting the villagers and starting another riot. As they took off, Aang spared a moment to look down and saw a crowd around Aunt Wu as she gestured to the sky and his beautiful obsidian arch.

They had seemed like good people. He had wanted to help them. The monks had always said that everyone should help each other and then the world would be a better place. Zuko had helped, but the villagers would have killed him just for being a firebender. Aang didn't understand at all.

-0-

The cold radiated from his chest. Ice, he realised. Someone was holding ice against his skin. The pain came from everywhere, though, in many different flavours. He felt dull and aching pain, like a purpling bruise, and also sharp-pointed pain, like that pinprick of agony that was his shoulder. He groaned and tried to open his eyes.

"Zuko, can you hear me?"

He heard a soft voice from somewhere above him. Katara. The feeling of cold momentarily withdrew. He tried nodding in response.

"We've got you on Appa. You're safe now," she said, and the cold returned. "You're going to be okay."

Zuko didn't think he was going to be okay in that moment, but he didn't think Katara was trying to lie to him.

"I'm going to check you over, okay?" It sounded like she was asking his permission.

He nodded again. Her fingers, cold but gentle, touched him so lightly it was almost a caress. He sighed gratefully at her touch, unable to suppress it. Though there was pain, her fingers were soothing as they glided over his skin. It had been so long since anyone had touched Zuko this softly.

There had been three people in his life that Zuko trusted not to hurt him when they touched him. His mother, Uncle Iroh and Lu Ten. Katara was the fourth. He opened his eyes and watched her as she sat beside him, observing the serious expression on her face and the careful way she went about her task. She looked up, aware that he was watching her. She held his gaze and scooted even closer, placing her hand softly on his good shoulder. It was one of the few places where he wasn't hurt.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, "It wasn't fair what happened to you."

Zuko nodded in acknowledgement before he had to look away. That simple statement took his breath away. Sometimes unfair things happened and they weren't his fault. Zuko found he couldn't look at her face any more. She made him _feel_ things, and sometimes it was just _too much_. He was quiet, compliant as she went about the rest of her task.

He helped her take off his shirt so she could examine the network of purpling bruises that were blooming across his chest. When her fingers ghosted over his ribs, he couldn't help but inhale sharply, but he tried not to let on how much it hurt. Katara made a disapproving sound and frowned at his chest. She said that he'd been hit pretty hard by the first rock. It might have fractured some ribs.

 _Great. Just perfect,_ Zuko thought bitterly, clenching his fists in frustration.

Katara looked up, noticing his change in mood. "You okay?" she asked softly.

Zuko had to bite back a hard, mean laugh. _Was he okay?_ What kind of stupid question was that? Of course he wasn't okay.

Then he glanced back down at her face. Her blue eyes were wide and her brow furrowed in concern, like she actually cared. He felt those spiteful, angry comments subside. It wasn't Katara's fault his life sucked. He shouldn't take it out on her.

"I'll be okay," he said gruffly.

Strangely, he found himself wanting to reassure her. He wanted to wipe the worried look off her face. He didn't want her to worry. He had liked it better when she had been laughing in the sun over fruit, gently teasing him and Sokka.

"I'm pretty tough, you know," he added.

Then she did the strangest thing. She was a strange girl, always surprising him, and not always in a bad way.

It wasn't a bad surprise when she smiled and leaned over, abandoning her medical examination for a moment. She placed her hand against his unmarred cheek, thumb tracing the soft skin under his eye. "I know you are," she whispered.

"Ahem, ahem!" came a loud, intrusive and incredibly judgemental sounding cough from the other side of the saddle.

Sokka was watching them, eyebrows raised so high they were nearly climbing off his face. Katara withdrew her hand and Zuko felt saddened by the absence. No one had ever really touched him gently just because they wanted to comfort him.

It had been nice.

-o-

Katara was the worst. She really was. Sokka watched his sister fuss over Zuko. Zuko was also the worst, to be honest. He was only encouraging this particular brand of stupidity. This was the worst part of kidnapping Zuko: watching them making moon eyes at each other while Aang made moon eyes at Katara.

This was a _cursed circle of moon eyes_ and Sokka had to find a way to stop this nonsense.

Not that he was deliberating trying to ruin boys for her, mind. He knew if he ever expressed a desire to meddle in Katara's love life again without being explicitly asked (as was the case with Aang), then a whole lot of angry waterbending, and feminist rants were coming his way. Sokka wanted to avoid both.

Previously, it had been easy.

Aang's crush was painfully obvious and kind of sweet, in a weird way. Sokka's teasing lightened the mood. He knew, for all her grumbling about Sokka "being nice" to Aang, Katara appreciated it. It made the crush seem ridiculous, which it was. She was very clearly not interested and had started practising spontaneous deafness whenever Aang tried to bring it up with her. Sokka always found that hilarious.

Haru just hadn't been that into Katara. Either that or he'd been too shy to make a move on her. Sokka really didn't have to do much to ruin it for her there. She'd liked him, though. Sokka could tell.

Then there had been that fuckwit Jet, and Sokka hated that dick.

Jet was the worst!

Jet was probably worse than Zuko.

Probably.

That was a close one, actually.

The worst thing about Zuko was that he was Prince of the Jerk Benders, which was pretty bad. But, admittedly, Zuko wasn't trying to _hide_ this fact from them, unlike how Jet had hid the fact that he was a lying, scheming psychopath who didn't see anything wrong with blowing up a town and murdering a butt-load of people.

Katara had fallen for his sad eyes, luscious hair and smarmy charm hook, line and sinker. She had refused to listen to Sokka, even though Sokka had seen all the warning signs of something being _askew_ with their new friend. When she had finally realised who Jet was, Jet had been on the receiving end of angry, ranting waterbending. That had been great.

Sokka wouldn't mind if Katara had a boyfriend. He wasn't going to be a possessive dick about it. Katara had previously ranted about Sokka being a possessive, over-protective big brother during the Jet Incident **.** And while Sokka still felt it had been warranted in the Jet Incident **,** he could see why Katara was upset with the idea of Sokka thinking he had the right to choose her boyfriends.

Sokka wouldn't begrudge her a boyfriend. They both hadn't had anyone around their age back home except each other, and that kind of sucked in the finding a girlfriend or boyfriend department. It was natural she'd be into good-looking dudes who weren't related to her. She'd helped him out with Suki, after all, and only teased him a little bit when he'd made moon eyes over Suki for days afterwards.

So, yeah, Sokka didn't mind the idea that Katara was going to get a boyfriend one day; he only hoped that this boyfriend would be NOT: a) a psycho, b) a vegetarian c) a _fucking fire bender!_

Jeez, maybe they should fly south and hit up Haru's village again.

The worst thing about Zuko was that he was still going to be with them for at least a couple more days. Who knew what ideas Katara would get into her head during that time? Also, aside from the notable exceptions of being both Prince of the Jerk Benders and determined to catch Aang, there wasn't anything really _wrong_ with Zuko.

Sokka had to grudgingly admit that the other boy was useful in sticky situations and surprisingly funny (in a dry, sarcastic way that Sokka appreciated). It was kinda nice having a boy around his own age who he could tease and mess about with. Sokka liked having someone around who would fire stupid jokes and comments back at him rather than just take it, because _pacifism,_ and also because it probably sailed over his head (Aang) or scold him to "be nice" (Katara). Zuko was also so stupidly honest, which made things easier. Zuko couldn't lie to save himself, and that was a mercy at least. They wouldn't have a repeat of the Jet Incident.

Sokka felt bad for Zuko. This was the very worst. Sokka felt like he'd almost been _tricked_ somehow, because he was feeling sorry for a firebender. In the past few days, nothing but bad shit had happened to the guy. Aside from being a firebender, he hadn't done that much to really deserve it. He'd been shot, crushed by rocks, had the shit beaten out of him by a mob. Poor bastard had even been taken to a fortune teller twice.

That scene in Makapu had been horrible. The villagers finding out Zuko had been a firebender even after he'd tried to legitimately save the town … it had brought out something ugly in people that Sokka wasn't used to seeing. He'd seen that kind of blind hatred from Jet, but he had liked to think that Jet was a one-off.

Sokka knew it was childish, but he clung to the idea that the Fire Nation were the bad guys and everyone else was naturally meant to be the good guys and never do anything terrible. Today had made him question that deeply held belief. Sokka wasn't comfortable with that.

Sokka needed to get Zuko back to his uncle, and quickly. He didn't like being confused about what was the "right thing to do" _._ He'd always just known before what was right and wrong, but he'd felt nothing but confusion since Pohuai. Honestly, he was over it. They should have just left Zuko by that outpost station, but Sokka had judged it too risky and made a choice, and now here they all were.

To top it all off, Sokka was absolutely sure that Zuko still wanted to catch Aang. He was like one of those dormant volcanoes. Just because he seemed harmless right now didn't mean he wasn't going to metaphorically explode one day and take them all with him (or maybe just try to take Aang with him). When Zuko had explained earlier about people getting complacent around dormant volcanoes and how that made disasters worse, Sokka had wanted to crow, "Yes! Exactly that! That is why I will never trust you, you big, dormant volcano!"

Katara wouldn't even let him tie the other boy up tonight because he was "too injured". They'd had a small argument about it. Katara had lost all of her previously held enthusiasm for tying Zuko up, and Sokka mourned this loss of her paranoia.

She asserted that there was no point in tying him up tonight because he'd probably broken some ribs and tying him up would make that worse, but also because there wasn't really much point. Even if by some miracle Zuko scraped himself together enough to try and grab Aang, one quick poke to the chest would bring him down.

So Sokka had gone back over to the camp where they'd left Zuko alone after sending Aang off to get some herbs per Katara's request. Zuko had actually fallen asleep, but Sokka had woken him. He'd asked Zuko to get up. Zuko did this very slowly and with much exaggerated groaning. Sokka then poked him in the chest. This was just to check Katara's theory. He didn't trust his sister to make sound judgements when it came to Zuko, after all.

Zuko doubled over in pain, swearing explosively and calling Sokka all manner of vile obscenities. Sokka was abruptly reminded that the other boy had spent at least three years on a ship surrounded by old, crusty, swearing sailors. Honestly, some of those phrases were just disgusting!

Katara shouted at Sokka for an extended period of time. Sokka then magnanimously informed Zuko that he wouldn't be tying him up tonight. Zuko told him to go fuck himself sideways. But at least Sokka could be satisfied that Katara's theory was sound. He'd been worried that proximity to Zuko was melting her brain.

Aang returned and Katara made some kind of paste with the herbs he'd brought back. It was meant to help the bruising. They'd already gone through the entire contents of the first-aid kit Zuko had brought (which had to be some kind of record. They'd had this jerk with them for less time than they'd been hanging out in Jet's tree house of dickishness and Jet had only succeeded in roughing Sokka and Aang up a bit.)

Katara went over to Zuko. They did that thing where they just looked at each other for a long time, like they were trying to see into the back of each other's skulls. She said something softly and he nodded. Then she went around behind him and started rubbing her concoction into his back gently. Zuko closed his eyes almost blissfully as Katara's hands moved across his back.

Gross. Sokka wondered if he should he make comments.

No, better not. He was still in the bad books from the chest poke. There was only so much of Katara ranting and being called a hedgehog-buggering fuckwit he wanted in his day.

The weird thing was that despite Aang's massive crush on Katara, the kid didn't even seem to notice when Katara started crushing on someone. But, then again, Aang hadn't noticed with Haru and Jet either. Maybe the little guy was just too down in the dumps tonight. Aang had been staring into the campfire dejectedly for a long time.

Katara asked him if he was okay. He wasn't really. He was very melancholy and disbelieving about how the village could turn on them so quickly. Zuko pointed out that they hadn't turned on _them,_ only him. He then pointed to the mass of bruises on his chest (though, to be fair, he could have really pointed anywhere on his person at this point).

Aang got cross (but not really at any of them) and said that didn't make any sense. It was against what the monks had taught him. It didn't make sense for them to treat Zuko that way after he had tried to help save the town just because he was a firebender.

There was a delicate sort of silence. Zuko looked between Sokka and Katara questioningly before turning back to Aang.

"Aang, you do know there's been a war going on between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world for a hundred years, right?" he said slowly, like he thought Aang was simple.

Ah, Aang. This was the downside of having Aang come from what sounded like a gloriously peaceful time.

A lot had changed in a hundred years. Katara and Sokka were frequently put in the awkward position of explaining how things were now. His sister had always tried to sugar-coat things for Aang, tried to make them sound less terrible. But today he had seen more raw hate than his little vegetarian brain could understand. There could be no sugar-coating this afternoon's events.

The tough-love-honest-no-sugar-coating-to-be-had conversations were always left up to Sokka.

Sokka tried explaining more in depth about the pain the Fire Nation had caused people and why some people felt the way they did. He brought up things that Aang had seen: Haru's village and the cruel way the earthbenders had been imprisoned, the destroyed forest, Suki's village (he made sure to glare directly at Zuko as he explained about that one), even Jet's village, and all the refugees they kept seeing.

Aang was looking at him, wide-eyed, and Sokka felt a little mean. Even though he'd been there, it was almost like Aang just glided above them all, happy and cheerful, and just _not seeing_ all the bad in the world. It made Sokka feel horrible. He always had to be the bad guy and bring Aang crashing back down to earth. Aang was staring at him like he was a kicked puppy and Sokka was a big pair of stomping reality boots.

So was Zuko, come to think of it, and that surprised Sokka. Zuko seemed to have a much better grasp of their reality earlier. He had certainly been kicked by horrible reality boots frequently during his life. Zuko had seemed to understand, though it obviously riled him, why the village had acted as they did, but now he was also looking at Sokka in open astonishment.

"My whole village was raided again and again until there was so few of us left," Sokka continued to explain. "They kidnapped and murdered all our water benders, and that's why there was no one to teach Katara. Our father had to leave to go protect us … after our mother was murdered in the last raid."

Sokka paused to look over at his sister. She'd finished rubbing in her tincture at some point when Sokka was talking. She sat between him and Zuko, poking the fire steadily with a stick. She had let Sokka do all the brutal-truth talking. She normally did. She was the optimist and he was the realist. She had her eyes cast down, away from him, her mouth set in a firm line.

"We've lost so much, Aang," Sokka said. "That's why people hate the Fire Nation. It won't matter to them that your friend Kuzon from a hundred years ago was a great guy."

People felt the way they did because they were hurting, not because they were automatically bad people.

"I even lost my mother's necklace because of them," Katara added softly, reaching up to touch the empty space at her neck. "It was all I had left of her."

"But I made you a new necklace," Aang started to say, forlornly, as if a new necklace would make everything better.

At his words, Katara smiled overly bright. "I know you did, and it was beautiful, but it unravelled when we were walking," she said, trying to soothe his obvious distress.

"I'll make it for you again," Aang offered.

She smiled that bright, brittle smile again before looking away.

Zuko reached over and put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "It's a blue chord with a carved, blue stone, isn't it?"

He spoke so quietly that Sokka and Aang had to strain to hear him. Katara nodded.

"I still have it on my ship," Zuko explained softly, like he only wanted Katara to hear him. "I am really sorry about using it … _before._ I didn't know it was your mother's."

Zuko looked a little shame-faced. Katara gazed at him in open astonishment.

"You're sorry?" she asked, sounding puzzled. She was looking at Zuko like he was a particularly challenging math problem and she was trying to figure him out.

"I am. Once I'm back on the ship, I'll make sure you get it back," he said awkwardly, taking his hand off her shoulder and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Really?" Katara sounded hopeful and vulnerable.

"Of course. It's the least I can do."

"Thank you," Katara whispered back.

 _Frozen hell._ Now they were just _looking_ at each other again!

Gross.

Sokka wasn't a waterbender, but he wanted to pour cold water all over this _cursed, moon-eyes situation._ He resorted to throwing his cup of water over the two of them. "Oi, stop that, you two!"

Zuko swore explosively again and some very colourful insults were directed at Sokka. Katara made an indignant squeal before bending the water off them and making it into a snowball, which she then threw in Sokka's direction.

"Don't throw snow at me. I'm just saying we've got to concentrate on getting this jerk—" he pointed in Zuko's direction "—back to his ship first, so don't go getting your hopes up."

There was a disgruntled silence. Sokka took this to be a temporary truce from his sister on the snowball front.

"It's pretty obvious to me that we can't just drag him around through the Earth Kingdom willy-nilly," Sokka began.

"Yeah, I'd really appreciate it if you guys didn't do that," Zuko said, sounding much more like his usual grumpy self and not someone who was nearly crushed by a mob earlier.

"But he looks so obviously Fire-Nation with his stupid eyes and his stupid face," Sokka continued, ignoring Zuko's insulted look. "I propose we keep him in disguise when go into towns. He can borrow my spare shirt."

"What? Your shirt? I don't want your shirt. All your clothes still smell like fish!" Zuko interjected.

"It's either a fish shirt or a likely repeat of today's incident," Sokka said crossly.

"How would your fish shirt be a disguise? People can still see my face."

"Nah, it'll make you look Water Tribe. Everyone will think we're cousins or something," Sokka explained.

"Wait, how would _that_ work? How could I possibly be Water Tribe? Am I adopted?" Zuko wrinkled his nose in confusion.

"No, your side of the family is just super pale. Whiter than the snow," Sokka replied.

"Why?" Zuko asked, looking at Sokka in open astonishment again.

"For camouflage. You'd be almost invisible in the ice," Sokka said mildly, even though he knew that wasn't what Zuko meant.

"No, idiot … just, after everything you just said about how much you hate the Fire Nation, why are you being nice to me?" Zuko asked him directly.

Aang and Katara were looking at him too.

Sokka felt like he was being put on the spot and squirmed self-consciously. He tried to make light of it. "I'm not really _that nice_ to you, you know. I kidnapped you, got you shot, and I handcuffed you all day. You really need to up your standards on what you consider _nice._ "

"Maybe I do, but that still doesn't explain why," Zuko said, unwilling to let the subject drop.

"Well, you're not as bad as Jet, I guess. You're … not the worst person I've ever met. Don't go thinking I like you or anything, but I don't want you to get killed either."

Frozen hell, everybody was just _looking_ at him now.

Sokka turned to face the group. "Look, I just want to see his stupid face back to his stupid ship without having his stupid self murdered by an angry mob or his own people. Is that too much to ask?"

"Who's Jet?" Zuko asked, clearly picking up on what he thought was the most important bit of what Sokka just said.

 _Jet was obviously the most important thing_ , Sokka thought sarcastically to himself.

"Katara's boyfriend," Sokka said, smugly. _Feast on that firebender. You aren't the first guy she's made moon eyes at._

"He was not my boyfriend," Katara said crossly, and moments later a snowball hit Sokka in the face.

"You were making moon eyes at him right until he blew up that dam!" Sokka contested, wiping the snow off. He turned to Zuko. "Jet was this good-looking guy we met. Like, really handsome and athletic. Charming, too."

Sokka paused for a second. He had been hoping to make Zuko jealous and insecure by talking up Jet's few good qualities (hotness and charm). However, judging from the perplexed look the other boy was giving him, Sokka had only succeeded in making it sound like he was the one who'd had the crush.

"But he was a total psycho," Sokka added quickly. "Katara was all like _my strong, manly hero, you are so great!_ " Sokka lifted his pitch to mimic his sister's infatuated voice.

"Oi! I never did that! I don't sound like that!" She looked like she was seconds away from rolling another snowball.

"Jet convinced Aang and Katara to use their waterbending to fill up this reservoir to maximum capacity so he could flood this nearby town. I pointed out to both of them that Jet was shifty as fuck, but neither of them listened to me, because they were so taken in by his dashing good looks …"

"It sounds like you were the one who was taken in by his dashing good looks," Zuko muttered, sounding amused.

Sokka flicked some of the slush from his hands at him. Zuko moved to dodge and then winced terribly and carried on a bit. Sokka ignored this and continued his tale of heroics during the Jet Incident.

"Then I had to go and save the town. I went down and warned everybody and helped them evacuate so when the dam did explode, at least nobody was hurt. But the town was ruined, so that sucked," he finished.

"Wait," Zuko said. "I heard about this. Was this Gaipan? Are you telling me you are the mystery hero of Gaipan?"

"Yep," Sokka said, feeling oddly satisfied. Mystery hero of Gaipan, eh? He liked that.

"Well, good on you for saving the town then." Zuko turned to Aang and Katara. "But shame on you two for wrecking the town," he added sternly.

Katara pulled away from him abruptly, looking insulted.

 _Yes!_ Sokka crowed inwardly. Bringing up Jet was reaping the desired results. Good to know that asshole was still good for something: ruining other boys for Katara.

"We never meant to wreck the town!" she said crossly.

"Well, that town still got wrecked," Zuko responded.

"Give us a break," Aang started to say. "We didn't intend—"

"Give you a break?" Zuko cut in, sounding pissed off. "I didn't intend to harm Kyoshi and you guys _never_ give me a break about that."

Aang started to say something back. Sokka sensed that a squabble was brewing, but not a squabble between Zuko and Katara, which was what he had been aiming for. Time to put an end to this. He still had one more point to make.

"Well, what do you know? I am the only person here who hasn't accidentally wrecked a town," he said loudly, cutting over the top of both Zuko and Aang. "And this is why you should all listen to me and trust my instincts."

There was a short, offended silence from the other three.

"When we trusted your instincts, we ended up walking right into that Fire Nation camp and meeting Jet," Katara said, sounding unimpressed.

"At least my instincts don't lead to random destruction of property!"

He received another snowball to the face for this.

-o-

Lovely readers!

One million billion thanks to the gorgeous Boogum for fantastic beta reading!

If you are reading down here, then thanks for sticking with this fic! I hope you enjoyed Chapter 4. So much love and enormous thanks to everyone who reviews. I do love feedback. It feeds my creative engine.

Today I would like to ramble about:

1) the fortune-teller and powerful benders.

2)I'm sorry, Zuko getting hurt again was necessary for the plot!

3) Sokka's attitude to Katara and boys.

4) The necklace.

So Aang is still the powerful bender who saves the town, because he is the avatar. The avatar is, by default, meant to be one of the most powerful benders in the world. Sorry to everyone who was hoping it would be Zuko. But take comfort in the fact that Aang is not the only powerful bender in the world, let alone in this chapter.

Zuko is also quite a powerful bender and he will definitely be acknowledged as such by Katara at later date. I honestly think Katara acknowledging "the powerful bender" for herself is a little more meaningful than a throw away line from Sokka, tacked on to the end of an anti-k taang ep. YMMV.

Zuko helped a lot here, with his heat re-direction, and his knowledge of volcanoes would have been very useful. I always wondered how Sokka knew so much about volcanoes in the show (as the are not a geological feature of the south, as far as I can tell). But then I realised its was probably Aang, remembering travelling in the Fire Nation with Kuzon, who came up with the ideas in this episode.

Zuko helping was important because I do think he would. He was always a good person, who had been indoctrinated into a warmongering and brutal culture, rather than a bad guy. I think it was important for the Gaang to see that he was a good person in his own right, even if they will still be at odds about the Aang catching issue.

Poor Zuko. He suffers a lot in my fic. But it is plot-necessary suffering. I needed to incapacitate him in some way, because I couldn't see the Gaang dragging along a fully healthy Zuko around the Earth Kingdom. Mob violence isn't fun, but I promise he's going to be a better person for it. I can also tell you that he will not be injured next chapter, but will be shown some love and care instead.

This allowed me to bring some of his growth from season 2, Zuko alone, forward (but he doesn't have to be alone this time, so yay). He got to really understand some the terrible things the Fire Nation has done. All the things that Sokka was talking about would have been things he would have seen with his own eyes from following them, but he would see them from a new perspective. He also got to experience doing _the right thing,_ but having people unable to look past his nationality.

He also got to be saved by three kids who can look past his nationality, and who are becoming his friends. I think the Makapu incident would really help all of them bond. Nothing like a bit of crazy life or death drama to create a bond between people. Like Harry, Ron and Hermione in book 1, fighting the troll. There are some things you can't go through together without becoming friends.

The why-everyone-hates-the-Fire-Nation conversation was super crucial for everyone, because it really cleared the air about the war and where everyone stands. Aang needed to hear all that as well. I love precious season 1 Aang, but he had such a childish outlook, and was so sheltered by Katara. This is not good for him in the long run. Perpetually sheltered Aang will think that showing Firelord Ozai his baby pictures in Sozin's comet is an acceptable plan of action. Goodness me!

Katara is the sugar coating optimist, and Sokka is the sarcastic realist. This no-holes-barred, realities-of-war conversation was always going to fall to him. But Aang needed to hear it. Aang needed to see that blind hatred, to better understand what he is up against and how the world has changed. The stakes needed to be real, and it couldn't have been something he could 'quick and clever' his way out of. Hence mob violence.

The Gaang also needed to see that just because someone is from the Fire Nation, it doesn't automatically make them _the bad guy,_ and just because someone is from the Earth Kingdom didn't make them _the good guy._ One of ATLA's strengths was always how nuanced an approach they had to representing the different nations. There were bad people and good people in each nation in the show.

Sokka is a protective older brother, this is true. Sometimes, in fic, he gets portrayed as this boorish, over-bearing type who wants to have control over Katara's love life. But I don't think that is true. Areaph wrote the most beautiful meta about Sokka and his journey towards becoming a man, understanding his what his own idea of masculinity is and how he unlearns the Water-tribe's sexism. Sokka's journey is actually extremely well-written and consistent.

Sokka knows Katara. He knows he has no chance of controlling that dynamic force-of-nature. He also knows her well enough to know when she is crushing on someone. The girl is _not_ subtle. I also think his main objections to any blossoming feelings between Zuko and Katara would be out the external issues (War, Zuko's nationality) rather than an objection to Zuko himself as a person. His objection to Jet is that Jet is, in Sokka's view, a manipulative psycho. His objection to Zuko is that Zuko is Fire Nation, _not_ that he thinks Zuko is a bad person.

Sokka is a practical person. He would know that inter-racial relationships in a war-torn world are going to be extremely difficult, even before you add in the complication of being on the _opposite sides_ of that war. He does not want to deal with the drama-cursed-circle-of-moon-eyes will lead to.

The necklaces are also a metaphor for love! They join papaya from the last chapter.

The fishing-line/woven necklace Aang makes dissappears in the middle of the Fortune-teller in the show. It most likely unravelled or Katara unravelled it herself to give Sokka back his fishing line.

That necklace is not meant to last. It was not built out of suitable necklace material – just like the Kataang relationship did not have a suitable foundation. I even would argue that Aang's Air Nomad beliefs, such as the rejection of the traditional family unit, would make him equally unsuitable as a husband in Sokka's eyes.

Zuko can give Katara something she values, a connection to her family. More importantly he understands why she would value a connection to her mother in the first place. He understands that so much. He feels guilt about his necklace dangling in the pirates episode. He can give her something lasting, meaningful and real.

He also really needed to apologise for necklace dangling. Let's get that checked off, right now.

There is a Doug Judy reference thrown in for all of you B99 fans!

Next chapter, the Gaang will be travelling together through the forest on their way to _Bato of the Watertribe._ There will be bonding, sarcasm, shenanigans, several meaningful conversations and hand-holding.

Til then, my lovelies.


	5. the forest

The days settled into an unusual rhythm for Zuko. They made their way steadily north through the forest. Sometimes they would fly. Sometimes they would stop and walk because of "Sokka's instincts". Katara made many comments about this. Aang did too, surprisingly, and that kid had a ridiculously positive and upbeat attitude about everything.

Zuko didn't mind walking, though. Not really. He had figured out Sokka's pattern at least.

Sokka always insisted they walked when they were coming closer to villages so they could swing a wide berth around them. Zuko didn't have to be a genius to figure out why. He felt oddly grateful to the other boy. Sokka didn't demand a thank you from Zuko for taking everyone so far out of their way just to help him avoid trouble.

Zuko could also see the sense in walking beyond just trying to avoid trouble. He pointed out the fact that Appa was a giant, _very noticeable_ , floating fluff ball. Following up on Appa sightings had been one of his main methods of tracking them. Did they not know this was pretty much how everyone was following them?

Zuko saying this caused an instant reaction from Sokka.

"I was right!" Sokka declared loudly. "I was right!"

He treated them all to the spectacle of the _I-was-right-_ dance and insisted Katara say "Sokka was right." She did this most reluctantly. Pulling Uncle out of the hot springs in a timely fashion took less effort than pulling that particular phrase out of Katara.

Sokka came over and clapped him over the shoulders. "Zuko, I knew you'd be good for something!"

Zuko knew it was meant to be a friendly gesture, so he tried not to let on how much it hurt his injuries. He failed in this ... badly. Sokka actually looked aghast.

"Shit, buddy," he said. "Sorry. I forgot."

It was the first time Sokka had ever apologised to him and Sokka hadn't even seemed to notice. Zuko thought that a volcano would freeze solid before Sokka would ever do that.

This caused a temporary alliance between him and Sokka. It mostly just involved Sokka getting grumpy at the others during walks and saying things like, "Well, Zuko's not complaining about walking, and he's apparently _too injured_ for me to even tie up. If someone _that injured_ can walk five steps without moaning about it, then you can too."

That had been a sore spot at the start, not tying him up at night. Any pressure on his ribs ached more than he could hide from them and Katara insisted. Sokka then insisted on laying his sleeping bag practically right on top of Zuko that night and keeping an "eye on him". Which he had, quite literally. Sokka had eye-balled him for at least forty minutes, watching intently while Zuko had tried to go to sleep. It had been super creepy, awkward and disconcerting. Whenever he moved in the night, he woke Sokka up.

Zuko thought he'd hate it at the start, having a sarcastic Sokka so close up in his personal space. But then he'd had that nightmare again, the same one he always had: walking into the Agni Kai arena. Before it got to the horrible part, Sokka had woken him gruffly with a little shake. Sokka always woke him up before the worst bit. Zuko had been sleeping a little better since.

Perhaps it was from being a bit better rested than he had felt in a while, but Zuko could walk a long way without complaining and moaning about it. Groaning horribly was another story. Zuko found himself making the old-man noise all the time. It was the noise that Uncle made whenever he was trying to get up after playing Pai Sho for the afternoon. The first few days, Zuko moved like he was ninety years old with bad arthritis, but he was getting better, slowly. This was bringing up a new issue.

He wondered how injured he should act. He normally thought showing injuries was a huge sign of weakness (and growing up with Azula, it definitely had been a huge mistake to give her any openings). He instinctively avoided it at all costs, persisting doggedly when he probably should have rested and let things heal.

It had been no act earlier. His first few days with these people had been very brutal on the getting-the-shit-beaten-out-of-him front. He'd been hurt badly, and he knew it. He hadn't even been able to withstand being poked in the chest without doubling over in agony. There was no way he could have effectively taken Aang.

But now ... he couldn't help but notice how much they all let their guard down around him. He hadn't been tied up again since Makapu. Everyone had relaxed around him. Katara went out of her way to include him. Aang was persistently perky and was always trying to talk to him. Even Sokka had been much friendlier since then, in his Sokka way, though he still wouldn't let Zuko borrow his knife to shave his head (Zuko had the knife his Uncle had given him, but that was staying safe and hidden, tucked in his boot, just in case).

In any case, Zuko could feel the prickle of new growth up there. Sokka had refused to give him the knife, then said his usual "who knows what you'll do with it" thing. Zuko had waited in eager anticipation for another of Sokka's outlandish ideas.

Sokka's idea had been: "You'll probably try and stab me with it."

Zuko had expressed disappointment in Sokka, saying he came up with the craziest scenarios for how everyday objects could be used as weapons, and stabbing seemed so mundane by his usual standards. Sokka had looked incredibly offended and had told him he was not going to give Zuko any more evil ideas. Then he hadn't spoken to Zuko for two hours. However, Zuko had noticed that when Sokka did start speaking to him again, all of his ideas were even more bizarre, like disembowelling people with the soup ladle. Zuko had the suspicion Sokka had spent that whole two hours thinking up this stuff.

Katara had let him have the soup ladle, though, and had given a big speech to Sokka about how Zuko could have any cooking utensil he wanted because he was actually _helping_ with dinner.

Zuko liked helping Katara. It annoyed Sokka, and Zuko enjoyed annoying Sokka to no end. Getting Sokka pissed off and a bit flabbergasted was the highlight of his day. He knew it was petty and juvenile, but whatever. Sokka seemed to bring out his petty and juvenile side.

Sokka also hated cooking the most, which he seemed to think was "girl's work". Sokka also regarded most of the work around camp as "girl's work". This was weird to Zuko. Didn't everybody need to eat? Not just girls? Surely men needed clean clothes too? Katara had laughed long and loud when Zuko had first said this (in honest bafflement; he hadn't even been trying to annoy Sokka then). She had made many pointed comments to Sokka about tasks he could do if he wanted to eat. Sokka had elected to go hunting, because it was "manly".

Sokka's disdain for doing the chores and his desire to "go hunting" whenever there were chores to be done, along with Aang's tendency to bugger off and "practice" whenever Katara needed help, gave Zuko pause. Did they always do this: just leave her with all the work? Just because she was a girl? It didn't seem fair. Whenever his men had been on field expeditions, everyone was expected to help out, but that didn't seem to be the case here.

The result of this was that Sokka and Aang made themselves scarce at meal prep times to avoid being given a girly job like cutting vegetables, presumably. Zuko knew that, as a prince, vegetable cutting was beneath him, but he had good knife skills and he didn't mind doing it for Katara. He didn't want to examine his reasons for this too closely.

He liked the easy way it was between them when they were stirring things into a pot together. He couldn't remember ever feeling this relaxed around another person. She honestly seemed to appreciate his help. Zuko wasn't used to feeling appreciated.

It made him want to help her more, in whatever ways he could, even though it wasn't that much given his current range of movement. He could chop vegetables and start fires and boil water and dry dishes. He used his bending to keep everyone warm as the nights got colder the farther north they travelled. Katara always gave him the warmest smile and the softest thanks whenever he did even the littlest thing for her, like he'd done something amazing.

Sokka, however, didn't like them "hanging out", as he called it. If Sokka was around, he would be super annoying—coughing meaningfully and interrupting their conversations, and mentioning that Jet dude or, less frequently, another guy called Haru. Sokka seemed a bit obsessed with Jet, actually. It was weird. Zuko was beginning to wonder if Sokka had an antagonistic crush on him. He talked about that guy so much.

But, anyway, Zuko was still trying to decide how injured he should act. The bruises had started healing, blending into a horrible mishmash of grey, green, and yellow. He had taken to acting like they were hurting more than they actually were. This was not too difficult, because his shoulder and chest were still super painful; however, it was also the sort of pain Zuko could manage. He could push through it. But he was choosing not to, which was a first for him. If they thought he was getting better, Sokka would probably insist they start tying him up again, and Zuko didn't want that. He just needed a little longer.

But it made Katara worry.

Every day she rubbed some paste she mixed up onto his skin. Zuko loved the feeling of her hands making soothing circles across his back, though he most certainly didn't want to think too closely about this either. Whatever it was, it was certainly helping him heal faster, but Zuko was acting like there had been little to no improvement.

She'd frowned in consternation at all of Zuko's answers when she'd asked him how he was feeling. Once she'd even said "I'm sorry. I wish I knew how to help you. I wish I could make you feel better" a bit dejectedly. Zuko had felt bad. He hadn't meant to make her feel like she was failing him or anything.

He told himself it was necessary to keep up this ruse if he ever wanted to have a hope of catching Aang and that he shouldn't worry if this made Katara sad, because they would be enemies again once Zuko got back to his ship. He tried to suppress the sinking, churning feeling in his stomach when he thought that.

Aang was a problem as well. He was so unrelenting in his friendliness and his curiosity. Zuko had no idea what to make of it. Aang seemed a little changed after Sokka's big this-is-why-everyone-hates-the-Fire-Nation speech. He'd been a bit quiet and crestfallen that first day. Zuko felt the same.

He'd seen the things that Sokka had been describing. After all, he'd been following them so closely. Sokka hadn't been lying about anything. Zuko loved his homeland and his people, but he couldn't deny that the Fire Nation had definitely caused a great deal of misery. He'd always been taught that the Fire Nation's mission was to spread and share its greatness with the world, but hearing Sokka tell it, he now knew the only thing the Fire Nation had succeeded in spreading was fear and hate and suffering. He tried to push these thoughts away, because he knew how treasonous they were, but they lingered all the same.

Aang seemed to change tact, though, and was constantly trying to start conversations with him and ask him things about the Fire Nation as it was "now", because the place he remembered from a hundred years ago wasn't there anymore. Aang's relentless attempts at conversation had initially caused Sokka to have a massive conniption. Sokka had ranted about fraternising _with the enemy,_ but Aang had persisted nevertheless.

Aang would ask Zuko about the different traditions, celebrations, teachings, food, what kind of things happened in monsoon season and what people did for fun. Sokka would interrupt Zuko frequently with his own interpretation of the things that Zuko was saying (interpretations that were never flattering to the Fire Nation), and this caused many squabbles between the two of them. The only part of his country that Sokka could hear about _without_ interrupting rudely was Home Island Barbecue, the unlimited meat restaurants. Sokka still interrupted, but it was mostly to express his incredulity at the idea of a place that offered all-you-can-eat meat.

The conversation went round in a seemingly endless circle:

"So you can just keep eating and they will keep bringing you meat?" Sokka had asked.

"Yes, until you're full!"

"What if I'm never full?

"Then they will keep bringing you meat."

"Are you sure you can just keep eating and they will keep bringing you meat?"

Round and round they went until Zuko _snapped like a twig._ He couldn't take one more round of explaining the same thing over and over again to the buffoon.

"For fuck's sake, Sokka!" he'd shouted. "I will take you to the very next Home Island Barbecue we come across and you can eat yourself sick, I swear to Agni!"

It was by far the strangest threat Zuko had ever shouted at somebody.

Aang told Zuko about how things had been a hundred years ago. Jeez, the things Zuko didn't even know about his own bloody country were astounding. Apparently, everyone had been a wickedly good dancer a hundred years ago and street parties had been common. Zuko couldn't imagine it.

Zuko found he liked talking to Aang about the Fire Nation, mostly because Aang didn't seem judgemental and determined to find fault with it. Aang never went on about how evil he thought the place was, even though Aang probably had the most cause to say things like that out of everyone in the whole world.

Zuko felt horribly guilty whenever he thought about it. All the Air Nomads were just gone. Zuko wanted to go home so badly, but Aang never could. That was because of the Fire Nation. Zuko knew why they had done it. He'd been taught why at school. The Air Nomads had been planning to attack and they were striking pre-emptively. But now he'd met an Air Nomad and he couldn't help but notice that Aang had a very strong adherent to the principles of pacifism. Aang had insisted that all the other Air Nomads were too.

Besides, school had been the place that had taught Zuko that the Fire Nation was spreading its greatness and the war was the best way of doing this, and look at how true that was.

Zuko pushed that treasonous thought away too.

Anyway, Sokka had hated these conversations at first. He hated hearing anything positive about the Fire Nation. After a few days, his attitude seemed to be irritating Aang too. Aang had piped up, sounding properly cross for the first time since Zuko had joined them.

"That's part of the whole problem, Sokka!" Aang had declared. "The world's been at war for so long and everyone thinks they know everything about the other nations, but they don't. Everyone thinks that people in the Fire Nation are just evil, and people in the Fire Nation think everyone else is stupid, backwards and barbaric and needs to be _blessed with Agni's light._ That's what they teach them in schools," Aang finished, pointing at Zuko.

Zuko really wished the airbender hadn't brought attention to him at that particular juncture.

The conversation about the Fire Nation school system and what it taught about the Water Tribes had been the worst! Katara and Sokka had both been outraged and neither of them had spoken to him for ages. Normally, Katara refrained from interrupting like her brother, but the schools made her furious.

Cooking with Katara that night had also been brutal. She kept crossly saying "and another thing, we don't …" at Zuko, and explaining various bits of Water Tribe culture. He had just taken it and listened to her rant and then apologised. He'd told her things like he didn't think that way now that he'd met her, but this did not help. She was still pissed off that everyone in the Fire Nation thought they practised cannibalism and blood sacrifices in the Water Tribes. This was a fair point. Zuko wouldn't want people assuming that he liked the taste of steamed human foot just because of where he came from.

"But you guys aren't stupid and barbaric and Zuko's not evil," Aang had continued. "Look, I just think we need to try and understand each other more. One day, there is going to be peace between the nations and everyone's going to have to live together. It's going to be better if we don't already think the worst of each other," Aang had said, a slight scold in his tone.

Zuko had felt ashamed. Aang wasn't wrong. Zuko had assumed that Katara and Sokka would both be stupid, because they had been Water Tribe. He had underestimated them so many times when making his choices; that was what had gotten him landed into this bizarre situation in the first place.

Aang really thought there could be peace.

Katara kept saying Aang was the world's last hope for peace. The world Aang described, the world from a century ago, and having friends from the other nations, it sounded nice. Zuko would have liked to not be enemies with Katara and Sokka and Aang. Sometimes, in his more optimistic moments, he thought that it would be great if they could even be friends.

But he couldn't see how a hundred years of war could ever be made right.

Aang seemed to think it was possible, though. Then again, Aang was the most optimistic and cheerful person Zuko had ever met. Aang was so sure everything was going to be sunshine and roses again after the war, and that just wasn't realistic. That wasn't how the world worked in his experience.

Aang's attitude gave people hope at least. Maybe it was selfish of Zuko to want to take that away, take Aang back to the Fire Nation. But talking about his homeland had made him so horribly, painfully homesick. Honestly, sometimes he thought his homesickness ached more than even his shoulder and his ribs combined.

He looked around the camp fire at Sokka and Katara and Aang. He didn't want to hurt them at all. He actually kind of liked them. Even Sokka, who was the world's most annoying person, had his moments. Moments where he made Zuko laugh, just from his sheer ridiculousness. Zuko liked being around them.

They didn't seem to hate him now, even after everything he had done. But they probably would hate him if they really understood what he was planning on doing.

Sokka had been right. They couldn't be friends and Zuko had been stupid to ever think that.

It was just because he'd been lonely, Zuko thought with a pang. He had been lonely and he allowed being forced into travelling with three people who didn't actively seem to want to hurt him to mean something to him.

He knew it was a weakness, wanting friends, wanting to feel less alone. But he felt it all the same.

He thought bitterly that Azula had been right about him. He really was so weak.

-0-

Sokka had been goaded into cooking by Katara. She'd made a few comments about how it was manly to cook just because Zuko was doing it. They both knew that someone who could show Zuko-level of perseverance after being shot and crushed by a mob was definitely manly by Water Tribe standards.

Sokka refused to let the implication that Zuko was more manly than him stand. Katara had twisted his words around and Sokka had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. Aang had been no help; instead, he had just said many encouraging things to Sokka, like he thought Sokka would be great at cooking and he couldn't wait to eat Sokka's food. Kuzon from a hundred years ago was a boy and he loved cooking. He was always making tasty things and feeding them to Aang. Stupid Kuzon, cooking for Aang and making him spicy snacks and shit.

Zuko was also no help. He said he just thought cooking was a _being alive_ skill rather than a boy skill or a girl skill. Sokka had explained, again, that some jobs were for women to do and then there were jobs for men because they were manly. Zuko said good knife skills and being able to boil water were crucial for everybody. Not being able to make your own dinner made you a child, not a man.

Sokka had started making dinner to prove he was a manly man.

He had failed at this.

Katara was enjoying herself very much as she watched him struggle with dinner, even though she clearly did not enjoy the meal Sokka created. Even Aang had a hard time saying nice things about it, and he didn't even have to eat the fish. Zuko ate it, but pointed out that he was starving and recovering from a large assortment of injuries and blood loss. At this stage he would eat literally anything, no matter how it tasted.

Katara seemed a little miffed and said if he felt that way, and if he couldn't taste the difference between her cooking and Sokka's, she wouldn't bother putting any effort into his meals in the future. Zuko tried to walk back his comments and started saying she made tasty food, way better than Sokka's—hers was only a little too salty rather than the abomination Sokka had created.

"You think my food is too salty?" Katara asked.

Zuko, honest to a fault and blithely unaware of the trouble he was about to bring on himself, replied: "You do use a lot more salt than I'm used to, but—"

He never got to finish his sentence. Instead, he was hit full in the face with a Katara haranguing: if he didn't like her food, he could do all the cooking himself, and honestly she did everything around camp, etc, etc.

Sokka watched, incredibly entertained, at someone else other than him getting a Katara haranguing. This was great. He didn't even need to bring up Jet to get Zuko into trouble this time. Zuko got himself into trouble all on his own.

Katara stormed off. Zuko started to get up to go after her, but he was moving slower than Gran Gran at the moment and making so many groaning, old man noises. Aang offered to help him get up.

"I don't need any help! I can do it myself!" Zuko yelled petulantly and dramatically.

He could, in fact, do it himself, but it took ages. Sokka considered going after him to make sure he didn't do anything shifty, but there didn't seem much point. Zuko would find Katara, but Sokka knew from experience there'd be no talking to her like this. Zuko would get another haranguing, no question. Sokka always left Katara alone when she was in a mood like this. She'd get over it eventually on her own.

Sokka considered warning Zuko, but then he thought it was better to let the other boy figure this out on his own. It would be good for both of them if Katara spent more time shouting at Zuko and less time looking at him the way she did _._ The way she looked at him was an endless source of worry for Sokka.

Zuko might not even find Katara, come to think of it. He was moving so loudly and heavily that she'd be able to hear him coming. If she was in a sulking mood and just wanting to be left alone, she'd be easily able to avoid him. Sokka couldn't believe that less than two weeks ago, this person had broken in and out of Pohuai Stronghold almost undetected.

-0-

Katara knew she had overreacted, but she couldn't help stomping away, furious. She wasn't really annoyed at Zuko, but she needed to shout at somebody and she had just released all that pent-up anger that had been brewing for a little while now.

In the Water Tribes, the women were responsible for all domestic duties. There had never been any indication that things could be different—not for them. Katara had tried to accept this with grace, like Gran Gran and the other women around her. She tried to smile fondly with them when they said things like "boys will be boys" when Sokka was excused from duties to play at being a warrior. She tried, she really had, to accept her role as woman-of-the-house. She knew she had to fill the big hole her mother had left. She wanted to make her mother proud. But still, sometimes it chafed her that she had so many duties and responsibilities, but Sokka didn't. It wasn't even Sokka's fault; it was just how things _were._

Then Zuko had shown up with his big firebending hands that had been perfect for starting fires, drying dishes and heating the water for their dinner, and he'd just offered like it was nothing. He didn't expect her to do all the work just because she was a girl. He didn't seem to think it was demeaning or unmanly to help. He was honestly confused by Sokka's attitude.

"Things are different in the Fire Nation," he'd said. "I would have never gotten away with letting my sister do everything for me."

He'd seemed to shudder at the very thought of putting any jobs on his sister's shoulders when Katara had pressed him about it.

He was her enemy (the thought stung) and he was really injured too. Still, he tried to help her as best he could. He'd confessed early on that he had no idea how to cook because he'd grown up in a palace and had servants do all the cooking for him, but he wanted to try anyway. It was all the more unusual that he would volunteer.

She sometimes half-wondered if he'd been doing it just to goad Sokka, because he really seemed to enjoy needling her brother about his lack of assistance. She decided it didn't really matter what his motivations were, though. A boy was _helping_ and that had never happened to Katara, ever.

She heard him coming a long time before he arrived. He moved slow and heavy now, so different to how agile he'd been before. She rubbed a tincture into his skin every evening and tutted over his shoulder. She was trying her best, but he didn't seem to be getting better and it was worrying her.

"Why did you get so mad at me?" she heard him ask from a few paces behind her. "I wasn't insulting your cooking." He huffed as he wandered over. She gestured for him to sit down. "I just ... I'm used to really spicy food and the only spice we have is salt and I'm not even sure salt is a spice."

"It's not a spice. It's a preservative."

He ran a hand over the back of his neck. "See, it's not even a spice and—"

"Sorry I shouted at you," she said softly, cutting him off. "I wasn't really mad at you."

It didn't seem fair to let him think he'd done something wrong when all he'd done was help her out. Also, she had a feeling that if she didn't steer this conversation, they would end up talking about salt for a long period of time.

"What were you really mad at?" he asked.

"My whole life I've had to do all the chores and Sokka's been allowed to just ... _be Sokka_ , and the one time he tries it was—" she gestured angrily, trying to find the words to describe their dinner.

"That was a disaster. That was the worst thing I've ever eaten."

"Yeah, but you still ate it!" Katara replied. She hadn't been able to force herself to eat too much.

"Because I was hungry," he said quickly.

"I'm hungry now," Katara said, a bit disgruntled.

"There's still leftovers."

"There will always be leftovers. I will eat my own shoes before I eat Sokka's cooking again."

He smirked in amusement.

There was a long pause and he waited for her to speak again. She tried to frame her words carefully. She had been deliberately goading Sokka earlier. She knew how to push his buttons. He was so sensitive about being seen as a man and the leader and that made it too easy.

"I just wanted to see if he could do it, you know. Maybe he could help out a little more, after you go back to your ship," she whispered softly.

She'd been helping Sokka plot their course on the map. They were really close to where Sokka had arranged to meet up with Zuko's uncle. Zuko would go back to his fancy ship and she'd be stuck doing all the chores on her own again. She had hoped that Sokka might be more willing and able to pick up a bit of the slack.

"I'll still be around for a couple of days," Zuko started to say, "I could—"

"You don't need to do anything else," she said more harshly than she intended.

That was half the problem. She'd gotten too used to him helping her, even though she'd known he would be leaving them. It had been less than two weeks, and she'd allowed herself to get used to him lighting the fire for her. She was going to miss the tiny little smile he gave her whenever she expressed even the slightest appreciation for what he did. She looked over at him. He wasn't smiling now, but looking pensive and withdrawn. Probably because she'd just snapped at him, again.

"I've gotten used to you giving me a hand. Nobody has ever helped me this much. It was nice, I guess, having you around," she said, trying to make amends.

He looked up with the most heartbreakingly surprised look on his face. It was as if nobody had ever told him it was nice having him around before.

She held his gaze for a long moment. He was the enemy and she wasn't going to make the mistake she had made with Jet, the mistake of caring despite the warning signs. She'd already allowed herself to care too much as it was. She had to turn away. Sometimes when she looked at him, she _felt_ things. Things that she knew she shouldn't.

"Before you, I just always had to do everything on my own," she whispered. "It gets lonely when you think you can't really rely on anyone else."

She couldn't keep the words in. It felt like a confession finally saying it out loud to someone. She always had to be the mum and she was only fourteen and it felt lonely. It made her sad and angry sometimes.

"I know how that feels," he said softly, after a moment.

She had a feeling he would understand. Maybe that was why she had said it

"Sucks, doesn't it?" she replied.

Before she could stop herself, she found that she had put her hand in his. He turned his palm over and intertwined their fingers. His touch was warm and comforting. It made Katara feel fluttery inside, down to her toes. She looked at their hands. His was so pale compared to her.

She remembered his own incredulous words from days ago when Sokka said they could just throw a blue shirt on him and everyone would think they were cousins. _How could I possibly be Water Tribe?_

He couldn't. He'd always be what he was.

She knew she should stop this. This was bad. They shouldn't be holding hands.

She got up abruptly to her feet.

"I'm going back!" she said quickly, feeling a little breathless even though she hadn't been waterbending or anything. She practically ran back to camp, knowing he wouldn't be able to follow as quickly.

-0-

After Aang dozed off, Sokka stayed awake and waited for them to come back. Katara did first and tucked herself into her sleeping back with a prissy "goodnight" in Sokka's direction. Then Zuko came back much later. Sokka hadn't heard any shouting coming from the forest, so he guessed they hadn't found each other.

Once Zuko was lying down, Sokka went to lie next to him and eyeball him again. Honestly, the things he did to look after everyone. Zuko seemed to have a crazy nightmare every night and would perpetually wake Sokka up. Sokka missed unbroken sleep.

The other boy had hated Sokka sleeping right next to him at the start and would frequently say things like, "Can you _not_ stare at me like that when I am trying to sleep? It's super creepy." Zuko was obviously getting used to it by now, though, because when he noticed Sokka's stare, he just muttered, "Fuck's sake. Not this again."

"Was my cooking really that bad?" Sokka asked after a moment.

He didn't think it had been. Sure, he'd burned the rice completely, and sure the vegetables became a congealed mess, and sure he hadn't properly rehydrated the salted fish, then burned it … but it was still edible.

"I thought Makapu was the worst thing that had ever happened to me, but eating your cooking was definitely worse," Zuko replied.

"Makapu. Pfft! I thought the worst thing to ever happen to you would have been when your dad—"

Sokka stopped himself just in time. He'd been annoyed and was going for the lowest blow possible. He'd been about to say something that would have just been _too mean,_ even by his standards. He only wanted to annoy Zuko, not bring up ... _that._

Knowing how Zuko got his scar was rough. It was the sort of thing that was very hard to know about a person without feeling sorry for them. No one had brought it up since that first day, because it was the sort of thing even Sokka knew would be a sore subject. But now he had done just that.

Katara was right. He was an insensitive jerk sometimes.

"You know about that?" Zuko said, turning right over to meet his stare, sounding dismayed.

"Yeah," Sokka answered hesitantly. "I overheard that doctor guy on your ship telling some other guy about it when I was in the sickbay."

He didn't want to get into this. This would be a heavy conversation. Zuko probably had a lot of feelings about what his evil dad had done to him, and Sokka didn't want to talk about feelings. He was no good at conversations involving feelings. He had no idea what to say except "your dad is a fucking psycho!"

"Everyone on my ship knows too?" Zuko asked, cheeks flushing red.

"I think so by now, yeah," Sokka said with a shrug.

"Fuck," Zuko said softly, but with real feeling, as he rolled back onto his back. "This is so embarrassing. I can't believe this."

Embarrassing? That wasn't the word Sokka would use. Zuko was acting like what had happened somehow made him look bad.

"Nah, Zuko. It's fine. I think they liked you more for it. Finding out what actually happened—"

"How?" Zuko looked up at the sky. "I was so disrespectful. I deserved it."

That threw Sokka for a loop. Zuko really thought he deserved something like that? Huh?

"Zuko, don't be a stupid idiot. Your dad is a fucking psychopath. You didn't deserve it."

Didn't the other boy see? Most people would hear that sordid little tale and say to themselves, "Wow, Fire Lord Ozai is a blazing psychopath", not "Wow, that kid was super disrespectful."

"I don't want to talk about _this,_ Sokka. Just shut up. I'm trying to sleep." Zuko rolled completely over and turned his back on Sokka.

Jeez, Sokka didn't want to talk about _this_ either. He was making a polar-dogs breakfast of _this._ But now he felt like someone should say something ... or do something.

Not him, obviously.

He'd need someone better at conversations about feelings and making people feel better. Maybe he should get Katara over here to give Zuko a hug? Sokka knew she wanted to, or at least she had before Zuko had insulted her cooking.

-0-

Lovely readers,

Enormous thanks to the gorgeous and fabulous Boogum for her amazing beta skills!

Thank you so much for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. It was fun to write. It's a little shorter. I wanted a more of a relaxed interlude where the Gaang make friends, and hang out/ faff about in the forest.

Today, I'd like to ramble about:

Sexism in ATLA

Zuko's view on what happened in the Agni Kai.

Zuko and Katara in general.

So, I read the most amazing meta, once again from the fabulous Araeph on tumblr, that detailed how the different nations expressed sexism. I recommend it, 10/10. Great Meta.

Obviously the Water Tribe is represented as quite sexist. (Ohh just wait til we get to the Northern Water Tribe, my lovelies). Sokka and Katara's upbringing would not have been as restrictive as the Northern Water Tribe, but there is still a huge element of sexism there. I think it is something that both of them previously just accepted, because it is what they know. _This is the way things are,_ type thing. Katara resents it, but doesn't challenge it when she is at home with Gran Gran.

Aang, to his credit, doesn't appear to have a whiff of toxic masculinity around him in the first two seasons. (I know, I know. Season 3, and the horrible entitled nice guy complex and the disrespect to Katara's boundaries. I know. But I like Aang, and I want to save him from shoddy writing. Poor kid didn't deserve what Bryke did to him.)

Air Nomads had complete gender separation. Being completely gender segregated, and not really associating with any girls his own age or having any consistent female role-models, means that Aang would logically follow how Sokka and Katara behave, in regards to group dynamics and chores, so he also bunks off and leaves the bulk of it to Katara. This is also because he functions as the 'kid' of the group.

The most gender equal nation is the Fire Nation, where we see women doing many of the same jobs as men. The show even goes out of its way to show us there are women working in typically male dominated careers like being a prison guard. Also, just look at Fire Nation fashion. Not only is it skimpy (indicating a lack of societal hang-ups over women being sexually alluring), it also shows women can wear pants, shorts etc, clothes they can move in, rather than feel restricted by. There is an incredibly relaxed attitude to teenagers having consensual relationships, partying and drinking without adult supervision. It also had a completely co-educational school system, so girls are given the same opportunities as boys.

The Fire Nation would actually have the most equality in regards to sex, sexuality and gender. Which is why the chores dynamic would have struck Zuko as really odd. He would see the inherent unfairness. Also Katara is his favourite and he wants to help her.

Araeph does another fantastic meta about how it makes no sense for that comic to paint Firelord Sozin and the Fire Nation as super homophobic, especially based on what we see in the show. Just because a person believes _terrible thing A,_ does not necessarily mean that they are down for _terrible thing b,c,d and e._ Homophobia in no way furthered Sozin's goal, and his nation doesn't really show any trace of it years later. I still head canon Piandao and Fat as a couple. They are cute.

If any nation would be homophobic, it makes nine hundred times more sense that it would be the Water-tribe, based on how they rigidly adhere to traditional gender roles.

So anyway, Zuko is assuming that Sokka may have had a crush on Jet, based on how much Sokka is going on about him, but he's not going to be weird about it or treat Sokka any different. Sokka is not going to be as laid back though, when he finds out about this mistaken assumption.

Zuko would still see the Agni Kai as a source of shame and embarrassment. He would still think he is the person who is at fault, and did something wrong, at this stage in my fic. I don't think it is something that he will shake off easily. It is also not something he and his Uncle would have talked deeply about, so that Uncle could shake this assumption. This mostly due to the fact that I think Zuko would shut down the conversation angrily if Uncle ever tried to bring it up.

Sokka saying that his dad was in the wrong and that Zuko didn't deserve it would be the first time anyone has said something like that to him. Zuko did hear him though, and he'll think on it. But he'll still got a way to go before he'll be able to face the truth of just how abusive his dad is.

Zuko and Katara: Cooking together is a metaphor for their love!

I just want to say that in every rambly notes, that something is a metaphor for their love. It's actually more of a characteristic of their love. They help each other, in both obvious and subtle ways, during the show. I don't mean to throw Aang under the bus, but he does refuse to carry Katara's basket full of supplies for the entire group on kyoshi because it _doesn't seem like fun._ This is mostly because Aang is fulfilling the child role, and letting "mum" take care of him.

Zuko fulfils the friend/partner/foil role once he joins the Gaang in the show. If Katara had a basket she was struggling with in the Western Air Temple, that boy would have been pushing people out of his way to volunteer to carry it for her first.

I think they would naturally fall into a routine of helping each other out and seeking out each other's company. I actually think that nobody on the Wani was keen to show much appreciation to Zuko. This understandable. Zuko wasn't the easiest person to be on a ship with! I also don't think he got much appreciation at home with Ozai and Azula. Katara appreciating him and wanting him around would be the most amazing thing ever for that poor blueberry muffin.

Katara for her part, has been putting her needs aside for other people since her mother passed. Poor girl has had to shoulder the huge burden of keeping her family together and fulfilling her mother's role. It would be amazing for her that someone was putting her first, trying to help her out, and sharing the burden of chores and responsibility. She doesn't know what to make of it, but she likes it.

Next chapter will guest star an incredibly worried Uncle. (Poor Iroh, think of the letter he got from Aunt Wu. Now Zuko would have been off the radar for ten days while he faffs about in the woods with the Gaang. That poor man!) It will also include June, Bato, Nuns, misunderstandings and, as always, shenanigans.

Until next week!


	6. Bato of the water tribe

Bato had been wandering up the long length of the beach, watching and waiting for the messenger that would give him the map to Hakoda and the others, when he saw a flickering light in the distance. It came from near the ship. The firelight was catching shadows and painting them on the sails. Bato counted four shadows. Voices carried further at night, and Bato strained to listen as he walked towards the boat.

"For the last time, we are not going to the abbey and getting any more bandages for him. He's not even bleeding now, and who knows what he'll do with them!"

That sounded like Sokka! Bato rushed closer.

"What on earth could I possibly do with bandages?" came an unfamiliar, exasperated voice.

"You could turn one into a lasso and then use it to catch one of those wild ostrich horses, then ride in here and..."

Bato thought he could make Sokka out now. The boy still had the same warrior's wolf-tail, even though he looked so much older than when Bato had last seen him. He was sitting next to a shorter, bald kid sporting vibrant blue tattoos.

"Lasso?" the other voice interrupted. "Why a lasso, Sokka? I don't even know how to make a lasso."

"That's just what you want us to think!" Sokka said to the other boy. He was sitting with his back to Bato, next to Katara. She looked older too. She'd be a teenager now. Bato had a quick pang of longing for the old days when he was still living back down at the South Pole. Katara couldn't have been more than six or so and she had taken to sweetly following him all over the town in the hope that Bato would pick her up and spin her around.

Tui and La, she was a young woman now, looking more and more like her mother every day.

"Sokka? Katara?" Bato called out loudly, and was rewarded by both of Hakoda's children leaping up with surprise and delight.

"Bato!" they cried, and ran over to him.

He enveloped them both in a big hug, feeling the big weight of loneliness round his heart lift.

-0-

Aang wanted to be happy that Sokka and Katara were so excited to see someone from their old tribe. They had gone off to hug the man that Katara had called Bato. They had been happily chatting to him and Aang hovered next to Katara, waiting for her to introduce him.

"Bato, this is Aang. He's the Avatar," Katara said, pushing him forward.

Bato bowed towards him slightly, saying it was nice to meet him. "Who's your other friend?" he asked, glancing to where Zuko was hanging at the back.

"That's … errr …." Katara looked quickly at Sokka.

Bato took a step towards Zuko, arm outstretched in greeting. Then he saw the boy's face and gasped. "Frozen hell, that's Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation! Get behind me, kids." He tried to push Sokka and Katara behind him while he reached towards the knife in his belt. Zuko took a huge step back.

Sokka grabbed Bato's arm. "Bato, it's okay. He's actually been travelling with us."

Bato straightened and gave Sokka a long look. "Explain."

"Well … it's a long story," Sokka said, fidgeting.

"Sokka accidentally kidnapped me and is now holding me prisoner to ransom me for money," Zuko said flatly, still a wary distance from Bato.

"Okay, it's a short story when you tell it _like that._ " Sokka turned to give Zuko an affronted look.

"Sokka, you can't travel with a firebender. Especially not _this_ firebender. Do you know how many people are looking for him?" Bato's tone was worried. "They say one of the worst generals, the Dragon of the West, has come out of retirement just to conduct a huge search for him."

Zuko looked back towards south, the direction that they had come from. "My uncle is looking for me?" he said, sounding wistful.

"The Dragon of the West is your uncle?" Bato asked, but it was a hypothetical question. "Well, that is just perfect. Wonderful. Really, that is _great._ "

Aang was pretty sure this was sarcasm. Bato didn't seem to think it was great at all.

Bato turned to Sokka. "Sokka, you need to put this firebender back where you found him as soon as possible, or so help me!"

"We will. By the day after tomorrow, he'll be back on his ship and we'll be on our way," Sokka said, trying to reassure Bato.

"Sokka, this shouldn't wait a couple of days. This has caused a huge problem for our sister tribe. They think the Northern Water Tribe ate him!"

"What? I haven't been eaten!" Zuko said the words as if he thought falling victim to cannibalism would somehow besmirch his honour. "Why on earth do people think I have been eaten?"

"I only know rumours. You went missing from the port near Pohuai the same night the Avatar was freed by the Northern Water Tribe and their Warrior Spirit. They found a torn shirt in a bloody clearing nearby that belonged to you. It's been assumed that the Northern Water Tribe kidnapped you to be a human sacrifice to appease their Warrior Spirit and give it new powers." Bato gave a bemused shrug. "I don't know why they think you got eaten, though."

"It's because the Fire Nation teaches everyone that people in the Water Tribes are cannibals," Katara said acidly, glancing at Zuko. "They probably assume that we would all just snack upon some _leftover sacrifice_."

"Why are you addressing that comment to me? You know I don't think that way anymore," Zuko said, sounding miffed. Aang noticed how Bato raised his eyebrows when Zuko said "anymore".

"Wait, why do they think the Northern Water Tribe did it?" Sokka asked, sounding confused.

"The official report from the admiral in charge of the facility claims that they were besieged by over two hundred Water Tribe warriors setting off co-ordinated and timed explosives, as well as some kind of demonic blue spirit with crazy ninja powers," Bato said. "That could not have come from our fleet, so it must have been theirs."

Sokka and Zuko made _no way/yes way_ faces at each other.

"You have to admit that is a much better story than what actually happened," Sokka said excitedly. "They think I was a force of two hundred men! That's how amazing I am!"

"It could also be Zhao covering his arse," Zuko said. "He has to come up with some justification for why Aang disappeared right under his nose."

"Can you _not_ ruin this for me, please?"

"How about we discuss this together back at the abbey?" Bato said evenly. "It's getting cold out here."

Bato took them back to the abbey and introduced them to the nuns, who had been taking care of him after he was injured. They were happy to meet Aang. They did a very similar gasp to the one Bato had done when they were introduced to Zuko.

"Wait here all of you," Bato said firmly. He walked towards the nun with the biggest hat thing. "Mother Superior, a moment please..."

The two talked in hushed tones. Bato came back over to them casually. As soon as he was close, he moved fast, cat-like and showing his warrior strength. He grabbed Zuko's arm, wrenching it behind his back at lightning speed. Zuko made a horrible, pained face and an even worse noise as his shoulder was wrenched back. He started swearing explosively at Bato and struggling crazily. Bato gave a grunt of pain as Zuko kicked him hard in the shin and elbowed him in the chest. Bato started trying to manhandle Zuko towards the corner of the abbey. Aang moved to intervene, but he felt Sokka's hand on his shoulder holding him back.

Katara kept yelling frantically at Bato the whole time. She was grabbing Bato's other arm and shouting "Stop, Bato! Stop it! You don't have to do that! Stop hurting him!", but she was trying to be heard over the sound of the struggle and Zuko's loud swearing. Zuko was telling Bato to go … do something unmentionable with a small, defenseless, spiky, woodland creature. Bato ignored her and wrestled Zuko into a small room that was just off the corner. A novice slammed it shut and locked it with a key, which she then handed to the Mother Superior.

"Now that's done," Bato said, brushing his hands off on his trousers, "how about we find a better place for this reunion?" He came back over to Aang and the others, a little out of breath. "Follow me, you three."

Katara was furious, hands clenched by her side. She was trying to keep her voice even, but Aang could hear the anger in it. He fell back a little bit. Katara could be scary when she was angry. He hadn't seen her angry that often, but when she was, it was horrible. He didn't know what to say or do to make her stop being angry.

"You didn't have to do that, Bato," she said, and her teeth were clenched as tight as her fists. "You could have just asked him."

"Katara, seal-pup, one does not simply ask the Prince of the Fire Nation to kindly step into a prison." Bato stopped to rest a hand against Katara's shoulder. "We have to lock him up. He's _dangerous._ " He patted her shoulder gently like he was trying to soothe her.

"He's not! You didn't have to be so rough with him!" Katara moved out of Bato's reach and wrapped her arms around herself. "He's been hurt! You've probably made it worse," she added petulantly.

"He's a firebender, Katara," Bato said in a reasonable tone of voice, like it was as simple as that. "I'm not going to be gentle with a firebender. Certainly not a firebender who could very well bring war upon our sister tribe and who is endangering all of you."

"He's not endangering us, he's just—"

"He's the enemy, Katara!" Bato sounded a little cross for the first time. He knelt so he was eye level with her. "Come now, seal-pup. I did this to protect you three. I haven't seen you in years. Let's not argue about a firebender." Bato pinched her chin, trying to cheer her up. Katara nodded slowly, but looked a little miserable.

"What will happen to him now?" Sokka asked after they'd resumed walking. He actually sounded concerned.

"This abbey is neutral. The sisters have been trading with both the local colony and the Fire Nation garrison. They will send word to the garrison detailing his location. I'm sure the Fire Nation will send someone to come and collect him soon, and he'll be safe enough here until then. In fact, if he has been hurt, they can give him much better care." Bato looked at Sokka. "You know this makes more sense, don't you, Sokka? He will get back to his people much quicker than he would with you three, and it will be much safer for you all if you don't travel together."

Sokka said nothing.

"I'll send a message off tonight," Bato said, as they walked towards the other side of the abbey. "We need to show the world that he is alive or there could be dire consequences for our sister tribe." Bato opened a door into a hut covered in dead animal skins. "How did you come to be travelling with him, anyway? I think you owe me a full explanation."

They all sat down around a fire with something really repelling stewing over it. It looked like brown, slimy, gelatinous snails that were still alive and wriggling in their attempts to escape the pot. So gross. Sokka and Katara seemed excited about it, though.

Sokka began explaining their story so far over their dinner of "stewed sea prunes". Katara and Aang interjected frequently, and Aang felt included in the conversation. Bato listened thoughtfully, looking concerned.

"Kids, are you friends with this firebender?" Bato asked sternly, when Sokka was done. He looked at Sokka and then at Katara with an unhappy face. They both looked away. They seemed ashamed, like they'd done something wrong.

Aang was confused at first. Why were Sokka and Katara acting ... so deferential? Was it just because Bato was a friend of their dad's? He knew they liked Bato. They obviously respected him and cared what he thought. They hadn't really had many grown-ups around who they needed to obey since they'd been travelling together. There had certainly been no one to tell them off, except for Katara, who told them off a lot. But now Katara looked like she was the one being told off. Aang couldn't figure out what Bato had said that was making Sokka and Katara look ashamed of themselves.

Bato had just asked if they were friends. What was so shameful about having friends? Then Aang remembered that you couldn't be friends with someone from a different nation now. He wondered what he would have done if Monk Gyatso had told him he couldn't be friends with Bumi or Kuzon just because they weren't airbenders.

"No," Sokka said with a dismissive wave, trying to sound casual. "Pfft. He's not our friend. But he's … he's not the worst prisoner we've ever had," he added with an almost pleading tone, like he wanted Bato to understand.

"You three have taken _more than one person prisoner_?" Bato demanded, eyebrows raised. He sounded appalled.

"No, we haven't!" Katara said really quickly. She was toying with the braiding on the animal skin rug with her fingers. "Zuko is…" she started to say, but then blushed. She folded her hands in her lap, visibly collecting herself. "We just wanted to get him back safely to his uncle. We don't want to see him hurt ... again."

Now it was Bato's turn to look embarrassed. "Oh, Katara. I forgot how tender your heart is. I'm not in the habit of roughing-up teenage boys. I'm sorry you had to see that. He'll get safely back to his uncle, I promise you." He gave her cheek a little pinch. Then he clapped his hands together. "Shall we talk about more pleasant things now?"

Bato deftly moved the subject to the Southern Water Tribe.

They talked about Water Tribe things that Aang knew nothing about. He tried to follow the conversation, but he didn't know any of the names or the people or the stories they were referring to. He got bored just listening to stories that didn't make any sense to him. He tried to listen and make himself agreeable. The monks had said all cultures were different and listening was important.

Had it always been this hard, though? Aang had a few friends from the Water Tribes before he'd been frozen, but they hadn't been close friends like Bumi and Kuzon. Aang tried to remember what it was like the first time he'd had dinner with Kuzon's family and Bumi's aunt. They both had come from very different cultures. Had he felt awkward meeting their families?

Bumi's aunt had given him jennamite candy. Then she'd told jokes so funny that Aang had laughed until the jennamite had come out of his nose. She'd made a very strong, sweet tea and gave even stronger, sweeter hugs.

Kuzon's mum had been a _wicked_ dancer. She'd snapped her fingers, sparks flying, encouraging everyone to move. She'd had a warm, encouraging smile. She'd taken his hands and showed him the steps. Aang had danced with them the whole night in the street.

Zuko said they didn't dance like that anymore in the Fire Nation.

Aang didn't like to think about things like that. It made him too sad.

The truth was he hated how much things had changed.

Everything was different now, and not in a good way.

Katara had told him it was meant to be this way, but Aang longed for the way things were. He missed the days when he could leave the Air Temple and still feel at home, because there was strong, sweet tea and thumping drumbeats and people who loved him.

He got up and started walking around, looking at all the artefacts to distract himself from these thoughts. It was mostly things made out of dead animals, which was gross. Bato told him off for touching one, and Aang could tell it was a real scolding, not like the subtle one from before. He placed the dead animal mask back on the hook.

"By the way, kids, I'm expecting a message from you father," Bato said, and then Sokka and Katara just lit up, they were so excited.

Would they leave him to go back to their father? It sounded like they wanted to and that made something in Aang's gut clench. He walked out, but no one noticed he had left. He wandered around the abbey, feeling out of sorts.

Zuko would talk to him. Maybe he would listen to him about the Fire Nation dances that used to happen.

Aang started to walk towards the room they'd locked the prince in. As he got closer, he heard a scraping noise coming from the door, like something metallic grinding against some wood. He called out Zuko's name. The metallic sound stopped and, after a long moment, Zuko called back "Aang?". He sounded really surprised.

"What are you doing in there?" Aang asked as he sat down next to the door.

There was another long pause. "Nothing?" Zuko answered, but with an upward inflection so it sounded almost like a question.

Aang saw Zuko move through the crack under the door, which creaked as he sat against it.

"What are you doing here, Aang?" Zuko asked after a moment, still sounding very bemused.

"I just thought I'd check how you were going," Aang said.

"I'm going fantastic!" Zuko said.

"That's great."

"Aang, that was sarcasm. I've been locked in a nun's cell. That is not fantastic."

"Can I get you anything?" Aang offered.

"The key?"

"I think the grown-ups would be angry if I did that," Aang said, looking at the abbey forecourt where some nuns were milling around.

"Aang, why aren't you with Sokka and Katara," Zuko asked abruptly, after Aang had been silent for several moments.

"They're too busy with Bato." Aang tried to keep the sourness from his voice. He'd liked it better before Bato had shown up.

"Bato's a dick."

Aang felt inclined to agree. "Can I tell you something, Zuko?" he asked after a moment.

"Eeeeerr. … sure."

"I think the hardest thing about living a hundred years ago is missing all the friends I used to have. Like my friend, Kuzon. He was from the Fire Nation, just like you. You remind me of him a little bit, actually. If you'd been alive back then, would we have been friends?"

There was a long, long silence. He wasn't sure if Zuko was going to answer him.

"I wasn't alive back then," Zuko said eventually. "Even I answered yes, it doesn't change the fact that the world's been at war for a hundred years, Aang."

"Yeah, I know. I just thought it would be nice if we could be friends, that's all."

"Aang, Sokka's right. We can't be friends. We have to be enemies." Zuko sounded angry, but also sad.

"If you didn't have to chase me and catch me, could we have been friends?" Aang asked hopefully, knowing he was pushing his luck and not quite sure what he was expecting.

"I don't know, Aang. Maybe …" Zuko trailed off. Then he made a huffy noise. Aang couldn't see his face, but it sounded like he was frowning. "But that's not the way the world works," he said firmly. "I'm not your friend."

"But—"

"Aang, just go away!"

Aang jumped up, upset at being shouted at so unexpectedly.

Nobody wanted to be his friend tonight.

He missed his friends and how things used to be. Sometimes, when he thought that there were no more Air Nomads left, he felt so, so lonely, deep in his bones, and nobody cared.

He fled to the beach and sat on the prow of the Water Tribe boat, feeling sorry for himself. He watched the horizon for a long time. He was still there when the ostrich horse messenger appeared at the other end of the beach.

-0-

Bato was preparing the boat for the make-shift ice-dodging session this afternoon with Sokka and Katara, feeling so glad that he could give this to them. Poor Sokka had reached sixteen without being taken ice-dodging and becoming a man in the eyes of the tribe. Bato knew that weighed heavily on the young man. Bato felt a pang too when he thought of Hakoda, who should be the one taking them. It was sad that his friend had to miss out on so many important moments with his children.

Sokka seemed delighted and was fully occupied with preparing the boat and studying the movement of the currents, but Katara seemed out of sorts. She did everything Bato instructed, but kept glancing back at the abbey with a look of consternation. Perhaps she was worried for the Avatar. He had been acting strangely all morning and had preferred to play with his bison and lemur in the abbey forecourt than come prepare the boat with them.

Bato came and sat next to her. "What's up, lil seal-pup?" He gave her shoulder a little squeeze.

Katara tried to give him a smile, but then looked down just as quickly and blushed. "I just..." she started to say, then looked off, unsure. She inhaled deeply, like she was preparing herself, before squaring her shoulders and said with much more confidence: "I want to go check on him."

"Aang?"

That made sense. Really, that kid was quite odd. Perhaps it was something to do with him being the Avatar. Carrying the weight of the world at such a young age would be enough to make anyone go strange. From hearing all about their travels last night, Bato had gotten the distinct impression that Katara had taken it upon herself to mother the poor lad.

Katara shook her head, "No, not him."

"The firebender?"

His voice had more harshness than he intended. Katara winced a little bit at his tone.

The inclusion of a firebender in their little group had alarmed Bato greatly. He wanted to protect them. The children, sheltered and naive as they were, seemed to have no idea the trouble they were courting by bringing a firebender into their midst. Worse, it seemed like they had grown fond of him, like they wanted him to be their friend. Bato could hear it in their voices when they spoke about him. In Bato's experience, all firebenders were dangerous—even injured, teenage firebenders with sad stories.

"His name is Zuko," Katara corrected him primly.

Bato was of the opinion that it didn't really matter what his name was. This boy may as well have been named Death and Destruction. It would have been more accurate, because that was all an association with him would bring.

Katara sat up straighter and put the net aside. "I would like to see him and check on his injuries, because he was very badly hurt and I think you made it worse last night, Bato."

Was she ... scolding him? For man-handling the firebender? Again?

Bato had acted hastily last night to ensure the safety of Hakoda's children. Upon reflection, perhaps there had been a better way to conduct himself than instantly resorting to brute strength to overpower an injured teenager. It had saddened him too that Sokka and Katara had to see that side of him. But war was war and what's done was done. It had been done for the best, Bato told himself.

Katara stood up, a determined set to her stance. "I need you to get me the key and I will need some bandages and other supplies from the abbey's stores," she said with a tone Bato never imagined hearing from her. Where was that sweet, little seal-pup of a girl who hung onto his every word?

Bato realised with a sigh that he would not be able to stop her from this foolish errand. He could see her mother's stubbornness in her, clear as day, from the firm set of her lips. Kya would get an idea in her head and there would be no reasoning with her. Katara had clearly inherited this trait.

But that did not mean he had to idly sit by while Katara threw herself in harm's way. Bato said he would give her five minutes only—wanting to keep her interaction with the firebender as short as possible.

Bato and Katara left Sokka at the boat and walked back to the abbey. The Avatar was having a conniption about littering as they went past, but Katara paid that no mind. Bato guessed he was just really into the environment. The kid was a vegetarian after all.

Death and destruction in sullen, teenage form was sitting on the bed, glaring angrily at him when he opened the door. Bato glared back, hands on hips. Katara scooted past him to go sit next to Death and Destruction, who seemed astonished to see her. The angry glare dropped as the boy looked at Katara hopefully. He asked her what she was doing there. She told him she had come to check on him.

"Be nice. Bato is my dad's oldest friend," she said as she deftly removed his shirt so she could get a look at his shoulder. It looked terrible. Bato found himself wincing internally.

He had done _that_?

"Why should I be nice to him when he shoved me in here?" Death and Destruction hissed back, still glaring.

"I'm only allowed five minutes to check you over, so don't be grumpy with me," Katara said, ignoring his last comment.

Death and Destruction shifted to allow her space. She leaned closer and said something so quietly that only Death and Destruction could hear her. He nodded in response, looking away from Bato for the first time.

"Katara, I think … Aang's feeling left out," Death and Destruction said softly. "He came to hang out with me for ages last night and talked about wanting friends..."

Katara looked up at him, momentarily abandoning her task, to quirk her eyebrows curiously.

Death and Destruction flushed red. "I don't know. Try include him," he finished lamely.

Katara looked thoughtfully at him. "We're taking him ice-dodging later today. He'll like that." She started trying to fashion a sling for his arm out of the bandages.

"You got some?" Death and Destruction said, as she began to wrap it around.

"I have my ways," Katara said, and flashed him a rather wicked grin.

"You raided the abbey supplies, didn't you?" Death and Destruction gave her a knowing smile and she nodded.

They looked at each other for a long moment. It seemed as if they were having a conversation with just their eyes, and it was meaningful conversation at that! It made Bato feel awkward, like he was somehow … intruding. He coughed loudly and told Katara her time was up. She stood up very reluctantly.

"Listen, Zuko. If I don't see you again, it's been..." She stopped, glancing uncertainly at Bato, who crossed his arms severely and gave her a stern look. She faltered and fell silent for a moment, a chastised expression on her face. She glanced back down to Death and Destruction. "Good luck with finding your uncle again," she finished, sounding sad.

"Katara, what's happening?" Death and Destruction sounded worried.

"We have received contact from the admiral of the western fleet," Bato said, speaking for her. "He has some spare soldiers who will come and pick you up very soon. They will take you back to your uncle."

"Admiral Zhao?" Death and Destruction seemed alarmed.

"Yes, I think that was the name," Bato said, before gesturing impatiently at the door. "Katara, if you are finished, we have other matters to attend to."

Katara hesitated and seemed very unwilling to leave. Bato made an implacable face at her. She gave the firebender a sorrowful look, a small wave and a soft farewell, before she finally left.

Bato followed closely behind, keeping himself between the boy and the door the whole time. While he had been expecting Death and Destruction to try something at some point, Death and Destruction just continued to glare angrily at him.

-0-

Zuko counted thirty seconds after Bato had closed the door before he flew into action. He pulled the knife from where he had stashed it rapidly under the pillow when Bato had first come to the door. He knelt in front of the lock and resumed trying to pick it, feeling frustrated.

Sokka had been able to pick the lock on his ship using only stolen medical tweezers in a shorter amount of time. Zuko felt sure that picking this simple door with his knife should not pose too much of challenge, but it was proving more difficult that he had originally thought. He jiggled the blade back and forth gently, trying to feel the separate mechanisms in the door.

He took a breath to steady himself, trying to will the anger away. This sort of thing took patience and finesse. Losing his cool and stabbing the door wasn't going to get him out of this pokey little box of a room. It was hard, though, because he was just so angry ... at Bato, at Sokka and Katara and Aang. But mostly at himself.

He had known it was a stupid mistake to let himself feel comfortable with people. He was such an idiot. He'd lowered his guard so much around Katara, Sokka and Aang. When Bato had suggested they return to abbey, he hadn't thought any more of it, because he had just _assumed_ that he would be included in their little group. So stupid. It had actually taken him completely by surprise when Bato jumped him. That was the worst, because Zuko of all people should have known better.

It was a mistake to trust anyone and feel comfortable around people.

That thought stung, but he was too old to entertain childish hopes like wanting friends. He had thought that … It didn't matter anyway. The others clearly didn't feel the same way and still saw him as an enemy. They probably always would, no matter what Zuko did. That had been made abundantly clear last night when they'd let Bato lock him in here.

They were going to let him be taken by Zhao, no questions asked! They were going to ditch him like he was nothing to them, and Zuko knew now that was exactly what he was: nothing to them. Well, they were nothing to him!

Sure, Aang had tried to be friendly even after Zuko got locked in here, but that had somehow made it worse. That kid probably felt just as left out as he did now that the great Water Tribe reunion was in full swing, but at least Aang wasn't locked in a pokey box about to be captured by literally one of the biggest arseholes in the entire navy.

It had made Zuko cross the way Aang had been talking. Couldn't he see? Friendship was bullshit. They couldn't be friends. Friends didn't let their dad's friends lock up other friends in pokey rooms. Zuko knew that much at least.

Sure, Katara had tried … but not hard enough.

The lock clicked open and Zuko poked his head out to check that the coast was clear. He could see an easy route out the moon gate and into the forest that shouldn't attract too much attention. Injured he may be, but stealthy he still was. He dropped low and ran for the exit.

They had been planning to meet up with his uncle tomorrow farther up the river from here. If Zuko made good time, he could get there on his own before sundown. He'd look around and find his uncle on his own. His uncle might already be there, if what Bato said was correct.

His uncle had been looking for him. His uncle cared. Zuko felt himself flush with shame thinking about how worried Uncle must have been, but it felt oddly gratifying as well. It was just nice to know that there was still one person in this world who gave a shit what happened to him.

He never should have gone along with this stupid kidnapping thing anyway.

He could have made a break for it before they had gotten to Makapu, he thought bitterly. Sure he would have had two weeks' hike to get to the coast and that would have sucked, but at least he wouldn't have hurt like this. Instead, he'd spent nearly the same amount of time with this little group and was still no closer to catching Aang.

All that … everything, and he had nothing to show for it.

-0-

Aang watched Bato walk away with Sokka and Katara, feeling completely lost and hopeless. They were leaving him! He knew they were right to. He had done such a bad thing. He never should have hidden that map. But he had hoped … maybe they could forgive him. He watched their departing backs until he couldn't see Water Tribe blue anymore. Katara had turned around once and given him a sad wave of farewell, then she'd turned back to the path and her brother.

He saw Mother Superior rushing over to him. She was probably going to tell him to move along. He had been moping in this one position for what felt like an age. As she got closer, he noticed how alarmed her face looked. Something was wrong. He jumped off Appa, landing next to her.

"What happened?" he asked her quickly.

"Avatar Aang, we have just received word from Admiral Zhao that he will be arriving here this afternoon, and I went to go tell the firebender, but he has escaped!"

Even Zuko had left him, Aang thought bitterly.

It was just going to be that kind of day. All his friends abandoning him and going off in different directions. Aang felt sad.

"We have a garrison of Fire Nation soldiers coming here soon and we have promised to deliver their prince. He must be brought back!" Mother Superior grabbed Aang desperately, like he was her only hope.

Oh.

"I'll go find him," Aang said, trying to reassure her, and grateful at being given something to do and someone to save. Saving an abbey might help ease the knot of guilt that had formed in his stomach at being such a terrible friend.

-0-

In the end, Uncle Iroh found Zuko, not the other way around. Zuko had heard a crashing through the forest. It sounded like some giant beast galloping. He had hidden himself in a little gully.

"We are very close. He's somewhere around here," he heard an unfamiliar, feminine voice bark. "He might even be able to hear you if you shout for him."

"Prince Zuko!" his Uncle yelled, sounding a little frantic.

Uncle was here!

Zuko stood up and saw his uncle behind a fierce-looking woman astride a giant, slobbering beast. "Uncle!"

His uncle had practically vaulted off the beast. He landed neatly with far more agility than Zuko had assumed was in those old bones. Uncle ran through the underbrush towards him and pulled him into a strong, warm hug. Zuko needed a hug more than he ever had in his entire life. He clung to his uncle, burying his face in soft, brown robes. Uncle Iroh smelled like tea, smoke and home.

"I was so worried!" his uncle admonished. "I have been out of my mind searching everywhere for you! Don't you ever disappear like that ever again! I have been frantic. Oh my spirits, I have been beside myself over you!"

Zuko found he could only nod against his uncle's chest and squeeze his eyes shut. He felt a lump in the back of his throat and was trying to push it down deep.

His uncle had found him.

He wasn't lost anymore.

Uncle made a rumbling noise and pulled him closer while patting his back. "Shh. There now, I've got you, my Zuko."

It was so strange. Zuko couldn't ever remember hugging his uncle like this. They had never been very demonstrative together. Even though Uncle was the only person in the world who Zuko knew loved him, he never really said it or showed it this way. Uncle showed affection through tea, proverbs and, very rarely, a quick pat to his shoulder.

Then Uncle gave him a squeeze and it jarred something on Zuko's side where the boulder had struck him. Zuko inhaled sharply.

Uncle let him go quickly and held him at arm's length. "Are you okay? Where are you hurt?" he asked, regarding Zuko with a serious look in his eye.

"Everywhere," Zuko replied dryly.

Uncle reached over and lifted his shirt and gasped. Zuko felt embarrassed and squirmed under his uncle's inspection. He knew it looked bad.

"What has happened to you, Prince Zuko?" Uncle asked, aghast.

Zuko stifled a bitter laugh. What had happened to him? Where to even begin?

"It's such a long story, Uncle."

"I think I had better hear it and make you a nice cup of tea. I have a special blend that might help you feel better."

Zuko looked at him in a bemused fashion. Uncle had a special tea blend and tea-set … with him now?

On second thought, it was typical.

"A long story deserves a long tea break and a comfortable seat," Uncle said, as he led them over to a little clearing. "Would you like to join us, June?" He glanced at the striking-looking woman, who was still sitting on the creature, with a question on his face.

"You paid me to find your nephew and I've found him. I've got another job calling me," she replied curtly.

"Ah, of course. Thank you for your wonderful company and thank you, Nyla—" Uncle reached to pat the strange creature "—for finding my nephew for me so quickly."

June handed Uncle his bag from the saddle. Then she and her strange creature left.

"You found me with _that_?" Zuko asked, nodding after the beast.

"June normally works as a bounty hunter. I found her working out of a tavern in the nearby port." Uncle opened the bag, took out a few spare sets of clothes, underneath which was a teapot and two cups. He set it up over a fire and stirred some leaves into the pot for their tea. "Her shirshu, Nyla, can track anyone, land or sea, by their smell. She found you _extremely rapidly._ "

Zuko raised his eyebrow. Was Uncle saying he smelled?

Uncle seemed to misunderstand his expression. "You must understand, I have been so worried for two weeks, and I was willing to use more unorthodox methods to find you."

"Pretty resourceful," Zuko said, vaguely impressed. Uncle looked taken aback.

Uncle handed him a steaming tea, and Zuko thanked him. Zuko breathed in the smell and sighed. It smelled like home, or at least the home that his ship provided. He never really appreciated his uncle's talent for making tea, but after having lived without it for nearly two weeks, Zuko felt like he could drink an entire potful.

They drank their tea quietly. Uncle asked again what had happened. Zuko was unsure how to explain. So much had happened to him and he wasn't sure how he felt about any of it.

He told his uncle about Pohuai and how it had been necessary to free Aang otherwise Zuko had no hope at all. Zuko had been worried that his uncle would think him treasonous. He had been over-explaining when Uncle held up his hand.

"Prince Zuko, I understand completely why you wished to free the Avatar."

It made something in Zuko's chest ease that at least his uncle didn't think him a traitor.

He tried to downplay how hard those first few days had been, because he didn't want to worry his uncle further. But getting shot was a really hard thing to downplay. Uncle was horrified. He told Uncle about Katara pulling out the arrow and how he'd nearly bled to death. Uncle was dismayed, listening open-mouthed and face white.

Then he had to tell Uncle about Sokka, Katara and Aang deciding to kidnap him and how, stupidly, Zuko had thought this would be a _good_ thing because it might give him the chance to catch Aang, so he'd decided to play along. He told him about Makapu and being handcuffed to Sokka, then Katara, then Sokka again, and being taken to see crazy fortune tellers. Uncle seemed rather amused and entertained by this.

Makapu hadn't been amusing for Zuko because of how that day ended. Maybe one day, when he was eighty years old, he'd be able to laugh about it, but not now. He had tried his best not to think of it at all. He told his uncle about the volcano ... and the mob. Uncle looked furious.

Zuko had never seen an expression like that on his uncle's face. Uncle had always seemed so relaxed on the ship, playing Pai Sho, organising music nights and making tea for everyone. Zuko knew he had fucked up, and here was confirmation in the way his uncle was looking at him.

He looked a little like Zuko's father in that moment. It made sense, they were brothers after all, but the resemblance had never been very striking until now. Unconsciously, Zuko shrank in a little bit from his uncle's enraged expression. Uncle noticed and apologised and said he wasn't angry at him, but Zuko was still hesitant about continuing.

He didn't really want to continue anyway, because he didn't know what to say about the time he'd spent travelling through the forest with Katara, Sokka and Aang. Before Bato, it had almost felt comfortable being with them. Zuko knew how ridiculous that would sound.

It would make him sound stupid and naive and childish if he said he didn't want to fight them or be enemies with them anymore, and that he wished, more than anything, that there was another way for him to go home. He wished there was a way that didn't involve catching Aang. He tried to explain just the facts, because Uncle had been worried that whole time and deserved to know what he had been up to. Uncle listened intently, looking surprised.

"Were you friends with them, Prince Zuko?" Uncle asked softly.

Zuko squirmed, feeling like he had been caught doing something wrong. "It doesn't matter now," he said repressively, feeling sorry for himself.

He had been through some crazy shit. He hadn't really realised how much crazy shit until he had to talk to his uncle about it. He'd been through all that, just for the chance to catch Aang, and now … Nothing ever went right for him. Nothing was ever easy. He'd been foolish to think an opportunity to catch the Avatar would just fall into his lap.

"Zuko, are you around here? Zuko, I have to talk to you. Zuko, come back!"

Aang's voice echoed up from much lower in the valley. Zuko and his uncle both got up to look over the underbrush. Aang zoomed past on his air scooter, all alone, calling for Zuko.

What on earth?

The Avatar was here, alone and actually _looking for him._

This was the perfect opportunity.

Zuko started down the valley towards Aang. His uncle seemed to know what he was thinking and stepped in his path.

"No, Zuko," his uncle urged, sounding desperate. "Come with me."

"This could be my chance, Uncle. This is the closest I've ever been. Don't take me away now!"

Uncle made no move to step out of the way, but just looked at him solemnly.

Zuko stepped around him and started running down the hill towards where Aang had gone. "I just need more time!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Uncle didn't chase him, but Zuko felt like he was watching him the whole way.

-0-

Aang had been zooming around the forest, trying to look for any clues to which way Zuko had gone, but he wasn't very good at tracking. He actually knew nothing about tracking. Eventually, he gave up trying to follow a track entirely and just took to just scooting round, shouting out Zuko's name. This seemed to be an effective method. Before too long he heard Zuko calling back for him. Aang whipped his scooter around in the direction the voice had come from.

Zuko was standing in the middle of a clearing waiting for him. Aang started zooming around him in circles at top speed and explained, also at top speed, about the abbey and the army coming and the nuns not wanting to be slaughtered. Zuko had been trying to follow him, and follow the conversation, but after a moment he made a frustrated noise.

"Aang, just stop spinning around. You're making me dizzy."

"Sorry, but you have got to come with me now!" Aang started back towards the abbey.

"Where are Sokka and Katara?"

That pulled Aang up short. "They left me. They went with Bato," he said bitterly, airball hesitating as he looked down dejectedly.

Zuko made a face. "That's rough, buddy. Bato's a dick."

Zuko said this in a supportive, mutual-hating-Bato sort of tone. Aang wondered what Zuko would think if he told him about hiding the map. Would Zuko think he was a bad and selfish friend or would he understand? Aang didn't want to go down that path; they had other worries and he had an abbey to save. He resumed scooting in circles.

"That's not important now! What's important is that I have to get you back to the abbey before the soldiers get there or they'll kill all the nuns."

Zuko crossed his arms and looked at Aang thoughtfully. Aang paused. He had just assumed that Zuko would come with him instantly and help him out. What if Zuko didn't want to come back to the abbey, given how he had been treated?

"Will you come back with me?" Aang pleaded. "Just show the Fire Nation soldiers you're there and alive. Then I'm sure they won't hurt the nuns. Please!"

Zuko uncrossed his arms and sighed loudly. "I'm only showing my face to stop nuns being killed. I'm _not_ going with Zhao."

Aang knew that Bato had been very worried about the Fire Nation starting a war with the Northern Water Tribe if they didn't get Zuko back. Surely, as the Avatar, it was Aang's duty to ensure that war didn't happen in general, and especially not when it was completely unnecessary and based on mistaken cannibalism.

"But if you don't go with them, they'll think the Northern Water Tribe kidnapped you to _eat_ you, and then they'll attack the North. Isn't that bad?"

"I have an idea, Aang, but you are really going to have to trust me," Zuko said after a long moment.

"Okay!" Aang said brightly, keen to hear what this idea was.

-o-

" _Part of being a man is knowing where you are needed the most_ ," his dad had said, and Sokka knew he was right. They really had been needed here at this abbey, and they had blown it. After they had left Bato, they had heard the sound of war horns. He and Katara had hidden in the underbrush and watched a group of Fire Nation soldiers, led by Zhao, marching to the abbey.

Oh no! They must have been after Aang!

They had followed as quietly as they could, trying to stay hidden and come up with a plan. A scary looking woman on a huge, strange beast had joined the firebenders and exchanged a few words with Zhao at the front, before falling to the back. The firebenders reached the abbey. Hidden from the bushes, Sokka and Katara could only watch hopelessly as Mother Superior went out in front. It looked like she was trying to talk to Zhao, trying to reason with him, but he slapped her once, hard across the face. She fell to the ground. Sokka felt Katara almost vibrating in anger next to him as she watched.

"These nuns have lied to the Fire Nation. The Prince is not here. You know what to do," Zhao said as he turned around to face the soldiers. He made a hand signal and they lurched forward, rounding up the nuns and setting things on fire.

Katara got up and started edging closer. "We've got to try and help them, Sokka!"

She slipped from Sokka's grasp and towards danger. They came round the eastern gate, near the perfume stores, when they heard a loud familiar voice.

"Stop! Put those fires out!" Zuko yelled in a commanding tone, from the far moon gate. "You don't have to hurt them, Zhao, If you're looking for me, I'm here." He turned and addressed the rest of the firebenders. "And I just want you all to know I wasn't eaten by anyone. I just want to be _really clear_ about that. I'm uneaten. Nobody has eaten me. The Water Tribe doesn't eat people," he finished awkwardly.

Zhao, who had been lingering near the exit and watching his men wreak havoc, stepped forward menacingly. "Are you asking for clemency for these simpering wimples after they have apparently imprisoned you, Prince Zuko?" He gestured to where the group of terrified nuns had been rounded up. "Your father would be ashamed of you."

"Even though I have the Avatar?" Zuko reached behind the moon gate to pull Aang out from somewhere.

Next to Sokka, Katara gasped in shock.

 _That bastard!_ Sokka thought angrily, blaming himself. _That lying, dormant volcano!_

Sokka had just been starting to like him, too! Sokka had never felt more betrayed in his life. They couldn't have ever been friends, but Sokka had _wasted feelings_ on feeling terrible about leaving Zuko to be taken by Zhao! He hadn't liked it. His instincts said it wasn't the best course of action, but he was so tired of having to be the leader and make all the choices. None of his decisions had turned out that great lately, after all.

Bato thought it was the best course of action to leave Zuko here, and Sokka trusted Bato. He knew Bato was right. It was a better way of doing things than dragging Zuko through the forest to meet up with his scary sounding uncle, but it had still made Sokka feel guilty. He hadn't even been able to bring himself to tell the other boy, because it was such a dick move to just leave him, and he'd felt bad. Now Zuko had taken Aang, which was probably what he always planned on doing in the first place.

This was why they never should have left Aang!

It was Sokka's fault that Aang had been captured and was now caught between Greater Evil and Dormant Volcano. Aang was now tied up from head to toe. He was smiling widely, like he thought his current situation was just _peachy_.

"That's right," Aang declared rather happily for someone in his precarious position. "Zuko's captured me. Not the Northern Water Tribe. This had nothing to do with them."

Then a lot of things happened all at once. Appa landed next to Aang, growling at the soldiers. Sokka heard Katara mutter "why I oughta" as she waterbent a huge wave of perfume towards the abbey forecourt. This was right at the exact second that Zhao had yelled "Get him!". The scary woman from before had jumped into the forecourt on her huge beast. Katara's perfume wave hit the creature in the face.

The creature made a pained scream and started writhing. It's incredibly long, whip-like tongue was darting wildly all over the place in big arcs. Sokka noticed very quickly that this tongue seemed to have some sort of paralytic agent in it. People were dropping left, right and centre, unable to move from the briefest contact with it.

Zuko and Aang both got hit in the face and landed in a messy heap on top of each other. Zhao got tongued in the sideburns, which Sokka thought was hilarious. Half the nuns, all the fire benders and even the woman who had been riding the creature, were lying dazed and confused on the ground within five seconds.

What had just happened?

A novice was running around frantically with a small vial, holding it up under the nose of the other nuns. They rallied instantly upon smelling it. Sokka and Katara came out from around the corner to see the same novice had untied Aang and revived him. Aang turned to help Zuko up. It looked like they were talking.

What in frozen hell?

Katara called out to him and Aang smiled brighter than a summer's day and ran over to hug her. Even Sokka got a hug. Rather than get all soppy with hugs, Sokka practically lifted Aang up and declared that it was time to run away. Appa seemed unable to fly currently, on account of recovering from being lashed with the tongue. Though Katara waved some of the perfume under his nose, it seemed like it would take a while to wear off because he was such a large animal.

They reached a clearing and Aang wriggled out of Sokka's hold. He sat down on a log, looking joyful. He started saying how happy he was that Sokka and Katara had come back. He began apologising about the thing with the map. Sokka had felt very strongly about it earlier today, but now he found himself frustrated.

The map was _not_ the pressing issue now.

"What are you doing, Aang? Why are you sitting? We need to get out of here!" Sokka urged.

"I'm waiting for Zuko. He said to meet here if we got separated," Aang said cheerfully.

Sokka felt like he really needed to clean his ears out, because he was _sure_ he hadn't heard that correctly. "Waiting for Zuko?" he asked indignantly.

"It was part of our plan."

"Your plan?" Sokka was aware that he was just repeating things Aang had said, but louder and with a great deal more frustration. "What plan? He said he had captured you!"

"No, silly. That was just for show. Zuko had this idea that if the Fire Nation thought he'd been chasing me on his own this whole time, and if I agreed with him and said it had nothing to do with the Northern Water Tribe, then the Fire Nation would know for sure that the whole thing with Pohuai had nothing to do with the North. Now they won't be attacked. Isn't that great?"

"But you were tied up. Did you let him tie you up?" Sokka asked very accusingly.

"Yes, of course! I had to play along with being captured," Aang said cheerfully, like he had absolutely no idea how much distress he was causing Sokka.

Sokka felt like he was having some kind of brain explosion. Was this what going mad felt like? How was he ever going to protect Aang when Aang just let firebenders who almost definitely wanted to capture him just tie him up willy-nilly? Just then, Aang smiled at someone behind Sokka.

"Zuko! You made it. Do you think it worked? Are all the nuns okay?"

Zuko had just come into the clearing and looked a little surprised to see all of them there, like he hadn't really been expecting them to wait. "I think so. All the benders are down for the count, so the nuns will have some time to get away. I put out the fires, but that abbey is a wreck for the moment."

"And whose fault is that?" Sokka said, rounding on Zuko and feeling ridiculously cross at him. He was sure this mess was somehow Zuko's fault. "Why would you even run away?"

"Because I'm not going to Zhao so he can gloat over me for the entire ride back to the Wani. That guy is an arsehole!" Zuko spat, clearly just as pissed off at Sokka.

Sokka had to concede this was true. Zhao definitely was the worst.

"He's had a vendetta against me since I beat him in an Agni Kai," Zuko continued.

Sokka thought for a moment. He'd heard the term Agni Kai before. "Wait, isn't an Agni Kai one of those crazy, fiery fights to the death?"

"Yeah. Well, I mean they don't have to be to the death … I mean they can be but—"

"And you had one with Zhao, which you won?" Sokka cut him off.

"Yes."

"Then why is Zhao still alive?" Sokka demanded angrily. "You could have killed him and solved everyone's problem!"

"What?" Zuko said, indignant. "You're mad at me because I _didn't_ kill someone?"

"You're right. I'm getting mad about the wrong thing. Why did you run off? That whole abbey is destroyed now because of you!"

"Hey, I never invited the Fire Nation soldiers there! That was your friend, Bato!" Zuko shouted back.

Well, that was unfortunately true.

"You all were just going to ditch me and hand me over to Zhao, and I didn't let you—" he pointed at Sokka "—or you—" he pointed at Aang "—get taken or captured by that bastard."

Also true.

Damn it! He hated it when Zuko was right!

Zuko looked at all of them like he was so disappointed in them and so cross at them, like he was the one who was hard-done-by. Maybe he was. Maybe this whole mess really wasn't his fault. Sokka was now beginning to feel a little guilty for instantly assuming the worst.

"You really came back just to save some nuns?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"You think I'm the sort of person who'd just merrily let nuns be slaughtered?"

Zuko sounded very insulted that Sokka had even asked. But Sokka still felt that he hadn't properly answered the question. What had motivated Zuko more: Aang snatching or nun saving? Sokka opened his mouth to ask.

"You know what, everybody shut up!" Zuko cut across him. "Nobody talk to me! I'm so mad at all of you!"

Zuko then turned around and started to stomp away from them and into the forest.

Bizarrely, oddly, strangely, they all started following him. They followed him all through the forest. Sokka wasn't sure Zuko knew where he was going, because they doubled back a few times, but he was actually _feeling bad_ about everything that had happened in the abbey and was just following silently because he didn't want to annoy Zuko further. This was weird. He normally loved to annoy Zuko. It had been his favourite thing.

How ironic, Sokka thought. They had been chased by Zuko clear from the South Pole and just at the moment that Zuko declared he wanted them to leave him alone, they all started diligently following him like little irrepressible turtle-ducklings.

Katara was especially keen to keep up with him. She was breaking the No Talking Decree and trying to explain their side. After a while, Zuko said: "Katara, I'm serious. I've had a long and super frustrating day. _I was just paralysed by a super gross tongue!_ I don't want to hear about how Bato's actually a really great guy, okay? Bato wrenched my shoulder and tried to sell me to Zhao ... so, you know, fuck that guy."

 _Ooh, Katara was in trouble with Zuko now,_ Sokka thought, amused.

Hopefully, this would stop the Zuko-side of the cursed moon-eyes triangle. If they were going to continue to follow Zuko through a forest, at least those two weren't holding hands or doing anything else super gross like that.

-0-

Iroh followed the little group, incredibly intrigued and marvelling at the change in his nephew. Well, not currently now that Zuko was stomping around angrily—that Zuko was quite familiar. But the young man Iroh had met earlier in the forest who said thank you, appreciated tea and considered his words, that Zuko was new. He had hugged his uncle tightly, which was something they had never done before. Iroh had always assumed that Zuko didn't like physical affection, because he always seemed so prickly.

Zuko seemed ... not more serious, that wasn't the right word. It would have been very hard for his nephew to achieve more severity than he already possessed, but perhaps more thoughtful. He seemed to consider the results of his actions much more, and beyond how they would directly affect him. When the Avatar had explained what would happen to the nuns, Zuko had come to their aid because it had been the right thing to do.

Iroh had often been worried that trying to please his father would always skew Zuko's way of seeing right and wrong. Sometimes the boy couldn't see the forest for the trees when it came to moral quandaries. He was _so reckless,_ barely considering consequences for more than a brief instant, if at all. But this afternoon had shown him that Zuko could, when left to his own devices, make good judgements. Despite everything he had suffered, he still had a good heart.

Iroh had never felt more proud … or more worried.

His nephew had made him frantic for nearly two whole weeks. The rising dread Iroh felt that first day when Zuko failed to return home and their search party only turned up ripped, bloody clothes and a clearing that looked like the back of a butchery, was a feeling Iroh hoped he would never have to feel again. The memory of the blind panic he had felt that afternoon would haunt him until the end of his days.

When Zuko had been explaining the series of terrible events that had befallen him, Iroh had listened with his heart in his mouth, trying to hide his distress. It was all Iroh could do not to drag his nephew back to the Wani and lock him in his quarters until the end of time, just so that he would _be safe._

He'd felt a terrible fury when Zuko had told him about the mob in Makapu. Iroh had heard about it from his White Lotus contact in Makapu, but it was another thing entirely to hear Zuko tell it. The thought of what those small-minded villagers had nearly done, how they had hurt his precious nephew, made Iroh see red. Iroh had been able to tell that his anger had made Zuko nervous. Zuko had seemed to think that Iroh was angry at him, though, and Iroh didn't know how to say, "No, dear boy. I am angry that people have hurt you so badly and nearly took you away from me, because you are all I have left to love in the world."

But his nephew had survived, though bruised and battered. He still cared about people, even if they did not care for him. He had grown so much in such a short space of time with these children. After watching them for the entire afternoon, Iroh couldn't help but notice that there was a certain ease and comfort that they radiated together, even while bickering.

The girl called Katara had been especially consistent in her attempts to make amends to his nephew. She was very eager to walk beside him and talk to him. Initially, his nephew had seemed cross at her, but he quickly relented. Before long, he stopped grumbling and started listening to her. Even more remarkable, he started smiling softly at her, smiles which she returned! The way they looked at each other made Iroh feel, dare he say it, excited for his nephew. Had Zuko made a lady friend? Iroh hoped so. He had so many proverbs about love to impart if this was the case.

She had been forgiven some time ago in exchange for the last of the seal jerky. This seemed to incense the boy called Sokka, who also coveted the jerky. His nephew and Sokka had squabbled for some time over the jerky and called each other a variety of insults, but without any heat or venom behind the words. It seemed almost like the brotherly teasing he had witnessed between friends' families (not with his own brother, obviously. Iroh tried to imagine what would have happened if he tried teasing Ozai like that. Yikes.)

After Zuko had forgiven them, the whole group seemed to relax. Even his nephew seemed less on edge, sitting around a camp-fire and gloating over his jerky prize to get a rise out of the other boy. He gave some to Sokka after a little while. Sokka made a variety of delighted and orgasmic noises as he ate the jerky, to the group's collective disgust. Katara made a rather cutting comment about her brother's eating manners, and Zuko laughed!

Iroh had nearly accidentally revealed himself in surprise when he heard the sound. He felt like he had not heard that sound in over ten years. Not since before Princess Ursa had disappeared. Iroh had never seen Zuko like this, interacting with young people his own age. He had often lamented the fact that the youngest member of the Wani, aside from Zuko himself, was in his late forties. It seemed a tragedy that Zuko would never get to form friendships and smooth over some of his more awkward, shy edges.

These children, they seemed to bringing out a side of his nephew that Iroh had not seen in a long time. Though they were all on opposite sides of a war, and Zuko had denied it, Iroh could tell that a rare friendship had blossomed here on the unlikeliest of grounds.

There was still mistrust and misunderstandings, but there was also kindness and camaraderie and a desire to understand. They were opening his nephew's eyes and teaching him to be more tolerant of people from other nations. That was everything that Iroh had hoped for. It was everything Iroh had needed if his long term plans for his nephew were ever to reach fruition.

" _I just need more time!"_ Zuko had said this afternoon as he had chased heedlessly after the Avatar, and Iroh was inclined to agree, though not for the same reason. More time with these three would do his nephew the world of good.

One week more was all Iroh could bring himself to plan for. He loathed parting with Zuko for any longer. Though he would always doubt the wisdom of this choice, though he would worry ceaselessly for the next week, though he would miss his nephew terribly, Iroh could give him more time at least.

He came out of the underbrush on the other side of the river to the group. He hadn't wanted to startle them or make them feel threatened. He'd hoped the river between them might reassure them that the girl could use her waterbending. He coughed meaningfully to get everyone's attention and offered a mild "hello".

"Uncle!" Zuko called, sounding pleased to see him.

Iroh had been watching as Zuko doubled back to the clearing where they had tea, with the group in tow, and had seen his disappointed face at finding it empty. It had warmed his heart, the thought that Zuko missed him too.

Aang smiled at him and returned his greeting, but Sokka and Katara seemed on edge, standing up immediately.

"I mean you no harm," Iroh said cordially. "I have come alone," he added to Sokka, who seemed the most uneasy. "I had heard my nephew might be around these parts. I came to ensure he was safe and alright. And there he is." Iroh gave Zuko a little wave, and Zuko waved back, embarrassed.

"Here he is," Sokka said, still sounding wary. "Do you have our money?"

"Today is not the day of the … _arrangement_ you asked for. I do not have the full amount," Iroh said with a dramatic pause before the word arrangement. He really didn't know how to describe the rather alarming missive he had received by messenger hawk. It looked like it had been written by his friend Bumi after several cactus juice cocktails.

"Look, that's fine. I'll give him to you half price," Sokka offered.

"I do not have half the price," Iroh replied.

"Fine. A quarter of the price. Seventy-five percent off. He's a bargain now!"

Iroh shook his head.

"Well … just give us whatever you've got in your pockets and you can have him," Sokka said, sounding confused.

"No. That will not do. Zuko is a prince. To pay less than one hundred gold pieces for him would be an insult to him. Because I love him so much, I could never dishonour him."

His nephew blushed and looked down, clearly discomfited by the open affection.

"Well, what now?" Sokka asked, sounding exasperated. He made an enormous shrugging gesture across the river.

"I have a proposal," Iroh began. "This area will attract the attention of both the Earth Kingdom Army and more Fire Nation soldiers after this afternoon's unfortunate incident at the abbey. Our original appointment is no longer ideal."

Sokka nodded in agreement.

Iroh got a map out of his bag and asked Aang to assist him in floating it over the river to the group. "I have marked a location near a neutral port, some distance north of here."

The children opened the map and looked sceptically at it, except for Zuko, who was looking sceptically at him.

"This location would be good. Note the river running through the area so that your sister can provide you with waterbending back-up," Iroh said, and Sokka looked up from the map, clearly dumbfounded that Iroh had guessed his little stratagem. "I presume that is why you chose the location near here. Very wise choice; it gave you many natural advantages."

Sokka was bewildered by this faint praise coming from Iroh.

"But I would advise a more narrow valley in the future, if you wanted to be able to bottle-neck your opponent. A ravine such as that one is ideal. The cliffs are rather sheer, so the only approach is from the valley floor. If you wait where I have marked, you will be in an elevated position, giving you a good vantage point of the whole approach. You will command a strong defensive position. If it turns out I am not a man of my word and am simply leading you into a trap, you would be well situated to either attack or escape," Iroh advised, seeing no reason not to bring up what would obviously be their first concern.

Sokka looked at the map again, squinting sceptically at the topographical lines. "It checks out," he whispered to his sister. "Weird."

"If you bring my nephew safely there in one week, I promise I will come alone, just as I am now, with one hundred gold pieces," Iroh offered graciously.

"Uncle, can you bring Katara's necklace as well?" Zuko said, speaking up for the first time in this negotiation. "It's in my top left drawer. It's a blue chord with a blue stone on it."

Katara turned and smiled widely at him, looking astonished and hopeful.

Iroh shared her surprise at his nephew's consideration. That his nephew would care and remember about a little trinket that seemed of obvious importance to the girl made Iroh surer than ever that he was doing the right thing.

"Of course I will bring it, if the Avatar and his associates agree to meet me at that location in a week," Iroh replied.

Sokka and Katara shared a long look. They exchanged some gestures in silence. Ah, the unspoken language of siblings. They were having a conversation that nobody else could hear or hope to understand. Eventually, Sokka made a grumbling noise.

"Urgh! Fine!" he said to his sister. Then he turned back to Iroh. "We will see you there, but I'm keeping this map afterwards," he added as he waggled the map at Iroh.

Katara made a face at him.

"What? You never can have too many maps. And this one is really good. Look at all the detail and terrain markers." He sighed wistfully.

"I will see you in a week, Uncle," Zuko said, looking strangely at his uncle and sounding a little unsure.

"Stay safe, Zuko. I will see you soon," Iroh replied, before adding, "Rug up warm. It gets chilly in the mountains at night with winter closing in."

"I will," Zuko said.

"Eat your vegetables. You will need your strength," Iroh said, feeling a familiar worry rising.

"Okay," Zuko said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Try to get enough sleep."

"Uncle! I'll be fine!" Zuko huffed back, sounding much more like his old self.

Iroh smiled to himself as he waved farewell.

"It was nice to meet you properly, Zuko's Uncle!" Aang called after him.

"It was wonderful to meet you too, Avatar Aang. Good luck with learning the four elements," Iroh said amiably.

"Aw, thanks," Aang replied, looking chuffed.

Iroh began to walk away, but it was a long walk down the bank. He felt aware of four sets of eyes trained curiously on him and his progress. It was actually rather awkward to be watched so intently while walking slowly. Occasionally, he paused and gave them a little wave. He was some distance away when he heard them speaking again. Sound carries much farther at night.

"Did your uncle really just wish Aang good luck in learning all the four elements?" Sokka said, sounding flummoxed. "Did I just hear that right?"

The others confirmed that this was what Iroh had said.

"Firebenders are the worst! Are you all this confusing?" Sokka said, clearly to Zuko.

"I don't know, Sokka. Maybe you are just easily confused," Zuko fired back.

-0-

Notes:

Lovely readers!

One million thanks to the gorgeous Boogum for her fantastic beta skills!

Thanks so much for sticking with it, and a huge enormous thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who reviews and comments. Your feedback keeps me writing! Since this chapter is huge, I'll keep my rambles short.

Today I will ramble about

Sokka and leadership.

Aang and the grieving process.

Iroh's parenting style.

My two drama llamas and their 'forbidden love'.

The main events of Bato of the water tribe, Aang stealing the map, ice-dodging and Sokka and Katara temporarily leaving would still go the same way, because there is some great character development for Aang and Sokka there. I've just written about what would be different.

Sokka, I love that kid. Bless him, I think he is great. This episode does deal with how he sees leadership and what it means to be a man. Sokka does idolise the warrior culture and is very keen to be seen as a manly, manly Water Tribe warrior man. While Katara is often painted as Team Mum, I would argue that Sokka is definitely the team leader. Zuko will eventually become to the team dad, but even he is just following Sokka's ideas and plans at this stage. In fact, I'd say Zuko will generally follow Sokka's lead. Look at Boiling Rock, it's mostly Sokka doing all the plans and Zuko being his ride-or-die buddy, and offering unconditional support.

The thing about leadership and feeling responsible is that it can be tough and lonely. Sokka's 16 and still trying to figure out how to be the leader at this stage. He would especially not be too confident in his decisions here, given how everything had turned out recently. He is more that willing to hand leadership over to an older male from his tribe, who he knows, trusts and respects. And in all honesty, Bato's not wrong that it is much safer for everyone to split up now.

The Gaang would no longer be attracting even more attention from the Fire Nation, and the abbey is theoretically much safer for Zuko than been dragged through the forest by them. Everyone knows Zuko hasn't had the best luck with them so far on the remaining uninjured front. Neither Sokka or Katara are happy with this arrangement, but I also couldn't see either of them directly rebelling against Bato, who they respect and love.

Bato is exactly like Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. "You put that thing back where it came from or so help me!" Bato was never going to be happy to see Zuko in this scenario. Sorry to everyone who wanted Zuko to go ice-dodging. I just couldn't see Bato, who strikes me as someone who would be very protective of his best friend's kids, being too happy with them travelling/kidnapping the prince of the Fire Nation or wanting to initiate a firebender into Water Tribe customs. The prejudice against the Fire-Nation is (justifiably) deep in the SWT. This is also why he doesn't refer to Zuko by name either, as that would humanise him. In Bato's mind, all fire benders are bad.

Aang, and the grieving process: I love Aang as a character in season one and two, even some of season 3, but his characterisation gets unceremoniously shoved under the bus by Bryke's favouritism and their desire to force Kataang, and it has led to a great deal of backlash against the lil muffin. A great deal has been written about the Katara side of the fallout, but I say poor Aang deserved better, too.

Marsreds on Tumblr had some lovely metas all about how Aang deserved better that I agree with. One of her points is that the Kataang relationship, which is stated in canon to be Aang transferring the love of his whole people into an unhealthy attachment to Katara as a coping mechanism, is pretty much a band-aid over the massive wound that is Aang's grief. I agree with this 100%, and it is one of the huge reasons why their dynamic is so unhealthy, because Katara can never make up for an entire people by herself.

Aang doesn't really go through the recognised grieving process; denial, bargaining, anger, depression, acceptance, during the show. I am not saying that I wanted the show to become bogged down in it or for Aang to become a maudlin character. His optimism and joy are some of the best things about him. However, I do think Aang's recovery should have happened.

I would say he seems stuck in denial, and bargaining in the show. Swapping the love he felt from a whole people into the maternal care he gets from one person and becoming dependant on that relationship reeks of an unhealthy bargaining coping mechanism. So this chapter, I had him acknowledge to himself that he really does miss his old life, his old friends and the way the world used to be.

Do you ever just think about how many shenanigans Zuko got into, and then consider the fact that Iroh 100% knew and let him go off anyway? Iroh really only calls him out on the stealing and trying to bring Appa back to their tiny apartment in Ba Sing Se. Other than that, Iroh's cool with it. This would have been a big wake-up call for him.

He has a very laissez-faire style to parenting/mentoring Zuko. He lets Zuko go off and make his own mistakes then helps him pick up the pieces, and offers wisdom after the fact. This approach was probably good early on, given how emotionally damaged Zuko was. He would not have responded well to his Uncle being an over-bearing parental type in the early days of the Wani, especially when he was trying be all grown up in front of the men, (a lil baby captain). However, they have just fallen into this pattern of Zuko doing really dangerous stuff and Iroh never pulling him back.

Zuko and Katara's biggest obstacle is not some dark n' edgy bullshit (because they actually are very similar people who are compatible in many ways). It is the fact that they have been born and raised on the opposite side of a 100 year war and are meant to see each other as the enemy!

The respective cultures/nations will not be happy with their relationship/connection at all. Members of the SWT would not be happy seeing Katara, their last waterbender, with someone from the Fire Nation. Not to mention the overt colonisation and disdain of other races by the Fire Nation! It's Romeo and Juliet, or Oma and Shu level stuff. Two lovers, forbidden from one and another, a war divides their people ...like c'mon. Who else is it meant to be? Oma and Shu is a metaphor for their love! It epic level stuff.

I don't love the comics because of how they trash my lil muffins. However, I vaguely recall one where they tried to bring this aspect into K taang. Aang had to choose between Katara and his duty to the world, and Katara was just going to..not have a vote in the relationship, I guess. See Bryke know how powerful and romantic a theme the whole forbidden lovers thing is, but it does not apply at all to the canon ships. It just makes it look like Aang makes all the decisions in the relationship.

Next chapter we will meet Jeong Jeong and other deserters, Katara will discover a new skill, Zuko will discover a new idea, Aang will make a friend and Sokka will be taken to an all you can eat meat restaurant.

Til then.


	7. the deserter

Katara had been examining Zuko's ribs when she noticed it. The slight squirming he did as her fingers travelled up near his armpit.

He was ticklish?

That was strange. He'd never reacted like that before. It was probably because he could feel much more sensation now since the bruises had faded—since he'd started getting better. Sure, he still said he was sore all over, and that was probably true, but he was definitely in much healthier shape than he had been. She felt a dread deep in her stomach and knew she had a choice to make.

"Zuko, can you follow me?" she said suddenly, but it wasn't really a question.

She got up, not turning around to see if he was following. She could hear him keeping pace behind her. She didn't want to have this conversation in front of Sokka or Aang. She had to be sure. After all, she had been the one who had decided that Zuko was too injured to be a threat, and she had been the one who had insisted on not tying him up, and she had been the one who had tried her best to include him. She'd done all that, and she wasn't even sure if he still wanted to get Aang.

She couldn't tell.

She was probably still feeling a bit sensitive about that afternoon at the abbey. The sick feeling of betrayal she had felt when she had assumed Zuko had caught Aang had been horrible. Then it had turned out that Aang and Zuko had planned it together to protect the Northern Water Tribe and she had felt awful for misjudging him.

What had happened at the abbey surprised her, and while Aang insisted that it had all been part of their plan, she couldn't help but notice that Zuko had been very quiet. He had let Aang do all the talking. He had done a good thing, but she couldn't help but wonder at his motives. She wanted to trust him, but felt so conflicted.

If he was healthy and still wanted to catch Aang, then … as much as she hated to admit it, he would be a threat. They'd have to go back to being enemies. She'd hated it when Zuko was mad at her. She couldn't even imagine going back to being proper enemies with him now.

The very thought of it made her sad.

"You've been lying to me," she said, when they were far enough away in a small clearing by the river.

He looked baffled. "No, I haven't."

"You've been feeling better for a while now, haven't you?" Katara tried to clarify.

"What gave it away?" he said softly, not denying it.

"You're ticklish, aren't you?"

He nodded, eyes wide with realisation. It was such a stupid, little thing. She didn't want to go back to being enemies with him just because he was ticklish.

"Why did you lie?" she asked.

"I didn't want to be tied up again, okay? It's so undignified." He sounded angry and looked away, but then he glanced back at her. His expression changed, softened. "When you all thought I was too injured, you trusted me and it was nice and..." He trailed off, blushing furiously. He was silent for a moment before he collected himself. "What now?"

"I don't know," Katara said sadly.

"Are you going to tell the others?" Zuko looked apprehensive as he studied her face.

"I don't know!"

She didn't know what the right thing to do was. She could understand why Zuko had done it. They'd all had a much easier group dynamic when they thought he wasn't a threat. The minute Katara had caught even a whisper of him properly recovering, she had reverted back to this awkward hostility with him. She hated this.

If only she knew for sure that he wasn't going to try catching Aang. Then things could go back to the way they were.

"Do you still want to catch Aang?" she asked directly.

He looked away, not meeting her eyes.

She reached out and grabbed his wrist to get his attention. She stepped right up into his personal space and looked him square in the eye. "Don't you dare lie to me."

"I can't catch Aang … not like this," Zuko said quietly, looking down at her and meeting her gaze.

His eyes were a light, golden-brown colour, like honey. He was much taller than her, she realised. He had to incline his head when they were standing close like this. She searched his face, hoping he could convince her he was telling the truth.

"We're in the middle of the Earth Kingdom," he continued. "I'm completely on my own and I have nothing … the bruises have faded but my shoulder is still murder and my ribs are still probably broken." He swallowed audibly and looked nervous under her intense stare. "And just … I know even if I wanted to catch him, there is no way I can pull it off in these circumstances. It would be stupid to try. I'm not going to try catching him again any time soon."

Katara regarded him for a long moment. She let out the breath she had been holding. "Okay."

"Okay what?" Zuko asked, and now he was studying her intently.

"Okay, I believe you." She stepped away. "I won't tell them, but I'll have my eye on you."

It was a warning and a promise.

-0-

A short distance from the nearby town, they came across a signpost with a poster for a Fire Nation festival that really caught Aang's eye.

"It's the Fire Days Festival!" Aang declared happily. "I love that one! Kuzon took me one year!"

Behind her, Sokka muttered something that sounded like "stupid Kuzon, taking Aang to festivals and shit."

"Does the Fire Nation still do all the fireworks at the end, Zuko?" Aang asked excitedly. Evidently, he hadn't heard Sokka's grumble.

"Yes," Zuko replied in a deadpan voice.

"Will there be all those lanterns everywhere throughout the town?" Aang said, doing a happy little bounce.

"Most likely."

"Will they fill the fountain with floating candles?"

"If there's a fountain in the town, yes."

"Will there be those little fireworks that you throw on the ground and they make those huge bangs?" Aang was positively vibrating now.

"Yes. They're called throw-downs, Aang."

Aang was all set to go. Sokka was completely against it and made some disparaging comments about firebenders, then tossed a lazy "No offence, Zuko" over his shoulder. Zuko took some offence anyway. There was some bickering. Aang pointed out that it would be a chance to see some real firebending. Unless Zuko wanted to teach him, Aang was going to have a hard time finding someone to show him firebending. He waggled his eyebrows at Zuko here.

"Aang, that is _so beyond treason,_ they will have to think up a brand new name for it," Zuko said in a grumpy voice.

"Like super-mega-treason?" Sokka suggested.

"No," Zuko snapped.

"How about treason-tastic deed?"

"That's worse."

"Treasalicious?" Sokka tried again.

"Actually, super-mega-treason was better," Zuko said. "Treasalicious sounds like I'm going to eat it and say _mmmh, delicious treason. I'm so excited to be executed._ "

Aang lamented that he may never find a firebending instructor.

"You'll just have to find someone who is so deep in the shit that they don't give a fuck anymore," Zuko said. "Like someone who has already committed super-mega-treason."

Sokka was unreasonably happy that Zuko had said "his thing." Aang renewed his attempts to get everyone to go to the festival, auspiciously to see some firebending. Sokka was still unconvinced. Aang got a sly look in his eye.

"I wonder if there is one of those all-you-can-eat meat places here?" he wondered aloud.

Katara smiled, feeling amused. She saw straight through that, but Sokka's interest was instantly piqued.

"Probably," Zuko said nonchalantly. "Most Fire Nation towns have them."

Sokka looked torn. He looked between the poster and the road for several long moments. Katara pointed out that they could check it out quickly and leave before there was trouble. Sokka muttered something under his breath that sounded like "right, because we always leave before there's trouble."

Sokka heaved a huge, over-dramatic sigh, then started walking towards the town. He gestured impatiently for them to follow him. "Right, everyone, let's get this over with. But you are taking me to the meat place!" he said, pointing at Zuko in an accusatory fashion.

Aang and Zuko talked a lot about the festival on the walk into town. Aang mostly remembered lots of things exploding and going BOOM. This alarmed Sokka. He immediately expressed his regret at agreeing to go to the festival.

Zuko explained that it was the festival to mark the start of the colder months. The Fire Nation believed in clearing the energy and scaring away the bad spirits through the use of many, many fireworks, making heaps of noise, and the worrying combination of these two objectives: giving children small explosive fireworks that they could throw on the ground to make heaps of noise.

People would dress up as spirits, or at least wear masks, so the bad spirits wouldn't know them, and they'd decorate the town with as much light as they could. This often involved lots and lots of lanterns and filling fountains and waterways with floating candles. They didn't do the big street dances that Aang remembered, but it was still a huge party. Katara was intrigued. It actually sounded like a bit of fun.

Sokka had swiped the Fire Nation money that Zuko had hidden in his bag, so they would have some cash to spend on themselves without their Water Tribe coins attracting suspicion. Zuko had originally protested a great deal at Sokka's perpetual habit of going through his stuff, but he relented pretty quickly when Sokka made it clear that he would be included in their spending. Sokka pointed out that Zuko was always going on about the good things about the Fire Nation, and now he had the chance to properly show people.

At the threshold of the main gate into town, Zuko paused and sighed dramatically before stepping over. They all bought masks from the first stall and began to wander around the town. It was beautiful. Strung from every building were covered lanterns made of all different fabrics. They filled the streets with a soft, warm glow and radiant colours. Looking at them, Zuko sighed again. She couldn't see his face under the mask, but she wondered what he was thinking.

Sokka had made him get a Blue Spirit mask. He said it was perfect for Zuko and then laughed to himself like he had just made the funniest joke ever. The Blue Spirit did certainly seem to be a popular choice of mask. There were so many Blue Spirits wandering around that, if Katara didn't have such a close eye on Zuko, she would be worried that they would lose him in the crowd.

They wandered around together and Zuko seemed to enjoy showing them different things and pointing out especially pretty lantern arrangements, tasty festival food stalls and traditional activities. They bought a floating candle each and Zuko lit them before they placed them in the fountain. Everyone was meant to do that at the start of the night to bring them luck over winter.

Sokka bought some Flaming Hot Fire Flakes, then complained that they were hot. He sounded surprised by this. Zuko took the bag off him and ate the rest. Sokka got a bit incensed. He thought that Zuko was doing it to show off how manly he was.

Zuko denied this and said he just really liked fire flakes. Sokka was sceptical. Zuko started talking about spice tolerance and how his was bigger than Sokka's, so he could eat spicier things.

Sokka seemed to think this was some kind of insult to his manhood/foolish dare. The phrase "my spice tolerance is bigger" made him unreasonably angry. Sokka bought another bag of Flaming Hot Fire Flakes to prove a point, only for the cycle to repeat itself, and Zuko finished the bag for him again. Zuko then bought ten bags of fire flakes and told Sokka he planned to eat all of them in one sitting. Even Sokka baulked at this declaration and he backed down from the fire flake battle.

Zuko clutched his fire flakes awkwardly. Ten was too bulky for him to carry easily. Katara offered to carry some for him and he accepted.

"Soo … what's with all the fire flakes?" she asked, falling into step beside him.

"Who knows when I'll get a chance to buy some again? I'm stocking up." Zuko handed her some.

"Won't you have them back on your ship?"

"No. They're a festival food and I'm actually not allowed to go into Fire Nation towns," he said a little sheepishly. "I haven't eaten these in three years."

"Why?" she couldn't help but ask.

"It's in the rules of my banishment. I can't go anywhere that's Fire Nation soil without bringing the Avatar home. All the colonies count as Fire Nation soil and …" He clutched the bag of fire flakes closer, almost like he was worried someone was going to come along and snatch them off him. "It's because my father didn't want me to get lazy or feel at home anywhere without proving myself," he added simply, like what he had just said wasn't totally heartbreaking if you thought about it for too long."

Oh, Zuko.

Katara tilted her mask up and moved closer to him, wanting to soothe whatever hurt made his voice sound like that. She felt the maddest urge to just pull him into a big hug and tell him that he didn't need to prove himself to anyone, let alone that monster he had the misfortune to call a father. She took another step closer.

SPLASH!

She was hit in the face with a huge amount of water. She felt it trickling all through her clothes. Zuko was in a similar position and had started swearing. She saw Sokka hastily give a bucket to Aang. He pointed at Aang emphatically, trying to implicate Aang in his foolishness. Had he just gotten a bucket of water and thrown it over them?

"Sokka, what is your problem!" Katara demanded.

She couldn't waterbend in public here; it would give their identities away. So she stood there, sopping wet and gesturing irately at her brother like a mad fishwife. Zuko was less circumspect. He lunged towards Sokka.

"If you have wet my fire flakes, you're going to get it!" Zuko growled.

Sokka surveyed the evident anger directed at him. He opted to retreat. He started to run away, arms flailing, in an undignified fashion.

Zuko shoved his fire flakes at Aang. "Hold these for me, Aang," he said, and proceeded to chase after Sokka.

They ran around the square until Sokka came across a throw-down vendor. Sokka grabbed a packet of throw-downs and started throwing them at Zuko's feet. Zuko grabbed his own packet and started throwing them at Sokka's feet. They were yelling ridiculous insults at each other and jumping awkwardly to avoid the barrage of tiny explosions popping on the ground around their ankles. People were laughing and cheering. More throw-downs were bought and several strangers joined in.

"Ah, jeez! I want to have a throw-down fight, too!" Aang whined, feeling left out and still clutching the fire flakes.

At that point, Sokka ran out of throw-downs. He held both hands up and lifted his mask. "I yield. I yield. You win."

Zuko seemed please at being told he'd won. Katara couldn't see his face to be sure, but she assumed so, because the very next thing he said was: "I'm hungry. You want to go to a Home Islands Barbecue and eat some meat now?"

Of course Sokka did.

They went off together towards an endless supply of meat. One minute trying to kill each other, the very next happily going off to share what Katara assumed was going to be a disgusting amount of food. Katara didn't get it.

Boys, honestly.

They followed to the barbecue place, and Katara unceremoniously dumped the ten packets of fire flakes that she and Aang had been carrying next to Zuko. Sokka was already salivating and waiting for meat. It smelled so delicious.

Aang couldn't stay at the barbecue place on account of his vegetarianism. The sight of racks of ribs and a cow-pig slowly roasting over a spit turned his stomach. Katara wanted to try some, but reasoned she could live without it for Aang's sake.

Katara went off with Aang to see other parts of the festival Zuko had pointed out. They bought a packet of throw-downs and had a small throw-down battle. They watched a lantern maker demonstrate his craft. They watched some fire dancing, which was mesmerising. She'd never considered there could be a beauty to firebending. They caught the tail end of a puppet show that Katara thought was a bit too violent for children. They drank a drink from hollowed out pineapple and ate some spicy vegetables. The spice set her mouth on fire and Aang rushed off to get her another pineapple drink. It didn't help much. They wandered back towards the boys.

It quickly became very evident that an ill-advised eating competition had taken place while they had been gone. It looked like the boys had eaten the equivalent of at least half a cow-pig together. Now, neither of these two idiots would say they were full first, even though they were both draped over their chairs hopelessly and groaning loudly. To admit being full was to admit meat defeat. It was apparently a matter of pride.

Sokka was still gamely saying he could eat some more. He actually ordered more chicken skewers, to Zuko's dismay. Chicken skewers were the final straw for Zuko, who gave Sokka a horrified look and then huffed.

"Fine, you win," Zuko said.

"I win?" Sokka seemed delighted.

"I'm done. I'm full. I can't eat anything more ever again. How can you even think of chicken skewers at a time like this?" Zuko added rather dramatically, like chicken skewers somehow besmirched his honour.

"Ha. I win." Sokka made a satisfied noise and slumped back further in his chair.

Aang started wandering off towards the crowd that was forming on the other side of the square, and Katara went after him. It was some kind of flashy, showy firebending. They made their way to the front. Aang started jumping up and down next to her, hoping to be chosen as a volunteer. Katara tried to shush him. The last thing they wanted was to draw any more attention to themselves.

-0-

This group was always just going to stupidly draw attention to themselves. _They were people of no stealth. They had negative sneaky ability,_ Zuko thought as he looked between all the fireworks exploding behind them. If it hadn't been for the very conveniently helpful stranger, who helped them escape with the assistance of a large amount of explosives, they would have all been in such deep shit.

Sokka went to thank the convenient stranger, but then paused. "You're a Fire Nation solider!" he exclaimed.

Zuko lifted up his mask in surprise. The man had been explaining about how he came to rescue them when he saw Zuko. He stopped mid-sentence and stared, mouth open like a stunned fish, before collecting himself.

He bowed low. "Your Highness, forgive me. I did not know it was you."

Zuko had been recognised!

Shit!

But Chey, that was the man's name, said he was so honoured to meet him. Zuko had been gobsmacked and a bit awkward. That was a sentence which he never thought he would hear on the back of the Avatar's bison. He had no idea how to react.

It turned out Chey had been in the division that Zuko had tried to save from General Bujing's heartless plan, when he had so foolishly spoken out in that war meeting. But to hear Chey tell it, it hadn't been so foolish. Jeong Jeong had told Chey about what Zuko had said and how he had spoken up for soldiers who were going to be sacrificed so cruelly. Chey said he would always be grateful to Zuko for trying to save them all. At least Zuko had tried.

"Respect, dude … I mean, respect, Your Highness," Chey said, giving a little salute. "You said _no, that's cruel madness._ You said _no_ to the Fire Lord. You weren't a coward like all those snivelling, vicious Yes-Generals and Yes-Admirals."

Zuko felt like he'd gone bright red in embarrassment at being praised. The others were all looking at him strangely, like they were impressed too, like they agreed with Chey. That was making Zuko feel even more self-conscious.

He knew it was probably super-mega-treason to be sitting round a camp fire with a deserter, listening to them ramble on, saying one traitorous and rebellious thing after another. But Chey knew who he was and still thought he was brave and honourable. He was genuinely nice to Zuko. Zuko liked Chey, even if he probably smoked too much special plant. Chey might have to be an enemy of the nation because he'd run away, but he didn't have to be an enemy of Zuko's, surely.

Zuko had spent the last three years trying to regain his honour and atone for what he had done wrong, even though he still didn't quite understand what had been so terrible about valuing the soldiers' lives. Here was someone who thought he hadn't done anything wrong at all, who was praising him for what he had always assumed was his biggest shame.

Chey continued retelling his story of being the second deserter and re-iterated how much he lamented what had become of the Fire Nation. He was saying it was just a crazy war machine now; all the upper ranks were full of empty-headed, reprehensible Yes-Admirals and Yes-Generals who didn't care how many lives they ruined.

"I heard that even Zhao, the one with the mutton chops, got promoted to Admiral just for arse-kissing." Chey made a disgusted noise. "Zhao. Man! He's just the worst!"

There was a murmur of agreement from their group. No one was a big fan of Zhao.

"Zhao is so far up Fire Lord Ozai's bunghole, he's licking the back of his royal throat," Chey concluded with a snort.

Oh, gross!

That was his father.

Now he had the mental imagine of Zhao and his father … _doing things_ in his brain.

Zuko was almost glad when they were set upon by a different group of deserters. The action drove the cursed mental image from his mind. Chey seemed to be in trouble for contacting them, and now they were being frog-marched towards Jeong Jeong's camp.

Aang was pretty excited by this turn of events and was hopeful that Jeong Jeong would be his firebending teacher. All Zuko knew about Jeong Jeong was that he was a famed master, famed traitor, and had once been a dear friend of his Uncle's when they were both in the army.

Zuko felt apprehensive. He was going to meet Jeong Jeong, the most famous deserter? That could be treason-treason. He was going to meet the most wanted traitor of the Fire Nation and he felt curious about him. That could even be mega-treason.

Zuko found he wanted to talk to him, to this old master who had turned his back on the Fire Nation. He wanted to know why. At what point exactly had Jeong Jeong looked around at all the misery, fear and hatred everywhere and said to himself e _nough_? What had convinced Jeong Jeong it was the right choice? Jeong Jeong had chosen to leave and live in secrecy and squalor rather than sit on silk cushions at the general's table in the old palace. Did he ever regret it?

Would these thoughts classify as super-mega-treason?

Probably.

Zuko couldn't believe how this day had panned out. Now he was thinking super-mega-treasonous thoughts in the forest, hanging out with deserters, and being rebellious. So many of the things he'd believed in had been turned on their head today.

He'd been to a place that felt like home. The Fire Days Festival had always been his favourite, but he had enjoyed it so much more because he'd been showing it off to foreigners, people he had always been taught were inferior. He'd wanted their good opinion so badly. He'd wanted them to have a good time and say to them, "See, it's not all bad."

He knew he wasn't meant to go into any of the colonies, but he couldn't help himself. He'd been so homesick and he'd thought to himself, _no one will ever need to know. Fuck it all, I deserve some fire flakes after these hellish weeks._

He'd broken the terms of his banishment and he didn't feel guilty about it. Not even a little. He'd had such a nice time showing Katara the lanterns, seeing the fire dancers, having throw-down fights, and eating a ridiculous amount of festival food.

And that wasn't even the strangest thing about today.

The strangest thing about today was that Katara had given him a chance. She'd believed him and, for her, he'd let go of actively pursuing Aang for the next little while. Katara was the person he'd got along with the best. She was sweet to him. She made him laugh. She'd even held his hand that night after Sokka's disastrous meal. In that moment, holding her hand on the cliff side, he'd wanted to tell her everything. He'd felt like he could tell her anything.

When Katara had confronted him this morning about getting better, he'd felt like it was all over for him. He didn't want to go back to how things had been that first day in Makapu. He didn't want to go back to being her enemy. This morning, she'd looked at him with her incredibly blue eyes, the same blue as the Ember Sea in the summertime. She'd listened and believed him.

He did still want to go home, and that meant he had to catch Aang. But, Agni above, he didn't want to let her down either. He didn't want to feel like he was this spider-viper in the grass waiting for his right moment. It had been an easy choice in the end. He'd meant it when he said he wasn't going to try again for a while.

The events at the abbey had proven just how much the spirits loved mocking him.

He'd had Aang!

He'd actually had him tied up from head to toe and cooperating _._ If ever he was going to successfully catch the Avatar, this would have been the ideal scenario.

And what had happened to this ideal scenario?

He'd been licked _in the face_ with a giant, disgusting, paralysing tongue _,_ that's what!

When he'd been storming away angrily from the others on the hillside after the abbey, it wasn't just because he was angry at them for ditching him. He'd been so angry at his stupid, ridiculous life and his stupid, ridiculous task. Catching Aang was impossible. Even when he'd successfully caught Aang, it would still go sideways for him.

It just wasn't fair.

He'd let go of the idea that he'd be able to do everything all on his own. He'd acknowledged to himself that there was no way he'd be able to capture Aang in his current circumstances. He had a week to try and think up a strategy before he'd meet up with his uncle again.

He needed his uncle.

His uncle would know what to do about Aang ... about Jeong Jeong ... about the deserters ... about everything.

"We're here!" one of the new deserters announced.

Zuko looked around at the ramshackle camp. He felt a gentle prod in his back.

"Jeong Jeong wants to see you first, Your Highness," the deserter said, pointing to a hut at the end of the path, and then bowed.

Zuko looked back at the other three, uncertain. Katara gave him a big smile of encouragement. Sokka shrugged. Aang urged him to make Jeong Jeong teach him.

He started down the path.

-o-

Jeong Jeong regarded Iroh's nephew as the teen entered, bowed in greeting, and sat. Polite in the presence of a master, even one who had deserted. Interesting.

"You asked to see me?" the boy asked after Jeong Jeong had stared at him silently for several moments.

"Yes. You know the moon-flower must hide her secrets during the day," Jeong Jeong said, starting with an early level pass code. He was not sure how far into the White Lotus Iroh had initiated the boy.

The boy wrinkled his nose and looked confused.

"Jasmine can bloom in hostile soil," Jeong Jeong tried again, an even lower level phrase this time.

The boy continued to look flummoxed.

"When playing Pai Sho, the white lotus gambit is a good strategy," Jeong Jeong tried for the final time.

"Err, I guess. I'm not very good at Pai Sho," the boy replied, looking unsure.

"I wasn't actually talking about Pai Sho, foolish boy!" Jeong Jeong snapped.

The boy looked even more gormless in response to this statement.

"Doesn't your uncle tell you anything?" Jeong Jeong grumbled.

Iroh had obviously not even let the boy into the very basics regarding their society. Jeong Jeong knew Iroh probably had his reasons. Due to knowing Iroh for a very long time, Jeong Jeong was afraid that they would be stupid and sentimental reasons.

Well, this was going to be much more difficult.

The boy seemed sensitive to perceived slights to his Uncle. "He told me you had deserted and were branded a traitor," he snapped hotly.

There was a temper there. Also interesting.

"Yes. Your uncle knows my feelings about playing along with the terrible travesty our nation has become."

He and Iroh had disagreed about whether it was nobler to stay and try to avert disaster from the inside. Iroh had been reluctant to desert and Jeong Jeong had been unable to sway him. It would have been a much more crushing blow for the Mad Fire Lord if they had both left that day. To be completely forsaken by his much more respected and still highly regarded brother would be a blow not even the Mad Fire Lord, with all his cruel manipulations, would easily recover from. However, Iroh had refused to leave his nephew alone in the world.

"We are burning this world alive," Jeong Jeong explained, his tone severe. "I could no longer contribute to a pointless war destroying all the bright and beautiful things that are left."

Iroh's nephew widened his eyes, clearly unused to such openly traitorous talk. This boy had been raised on propaganda and in an environment where no one spoke out for what they knew was right. Perhaps Iroh hadn't ever spoken to him about these things.

"You can't say the war is pointless," he whispered.

Indeed, he was right. You couldn't say that the war was pointless on the Home Islands or in the company of the wrong people.

"The Hundred Year War was invented only so Fire Nation children would learn geography. That is the very definition of pointless," Jeong Jeong said, and enjoyed the scandalised look he got in return.

"I know geography," Iroh's nephew replied grumpily.

"I am sure you do. I am sure you could tell me all about the western seaboard of the Earth Kingdom and all the other strategic areas. You might even know a bit about main Earth Kingdom cities. But what could you tell me of the natural beauty in the kingdom? Do you know anything about the seven wonders of the Great Desert, or the vast network of mountain caves filled with glowing rocks, or the incredible feat of bending that created Kyoshi Island. Mmhh?"

The boy looked a little shame-faced in response, and Jeong Jeong knew he'd made his point.

"I find it interesting that you are travelling with the Avatar. I see you have found the most logical way out of your banishment and are now cooperating with him rather than trying to capture him. Well done," Jeong Jeong stated.

The boy looked astounded, like he had no idea what Jeong Jeong was talking about. This worried Jeong Jeong.

"Don't tell me that you have still been trying to capture him?"

The boy looked to the door he had come through, knowing the other children were on the hill just outside. Jeong Jeong noted his conflicted expression. He was chasing them, but he cared for them as well. Interesting.

"Did you _never_ sit down and listen to your uncle?" Jeong Jeong asked gruffly.

The boy turned back to him, still looking bamboozled. For goodness' sake! Jeong Jeong knew he was talking clearly and in full sentences, but everything he said resulted in the boy looking at him like he was speaking gibberish.

Had Iroh just been letting the foolish boy run himself ragged chasing the impossible and never given him any of the alternative strategies?

No, that wasn't it.

What had Iroh said? _I tread lightly with my nephew. He's sensitive and moody right now. He gets himself all worked up. He is reckless._ Jeong Jeong knew that this was Iroh's gentle way of saying "my nephew is a cow-pig headed, idiot teenager."

"Perhaps, like all young men your age, you are not fond of listening to your elders, being told what to do, or doing things that seem like dull, hard work," Jeong Jeong admonished.

"I'm not afraid of hard work," the boy retorted, clearly insulted.

"Have you even read the terms of your banishment?" Jeong Jeong asked, trying not to sound like he thought the boy was an idiot.

"Of course I have!"

"It says you have to get the Avatar back to Fire Nation soil in front of witnesses who will vouch for you. Correct?" Jeong Jeong said slowly, trying to remind himself that teenagers were often stupid. Iroh had sent him details when the banishment first occurred to see if Jeong Jeong had any ideas.

"Yes, that means I have to take him home in front of everyone," the boy responded equally slowly, like he thought Jeong Jeong was the foolish one.

"You think like a simple child, not a solider," Jeong Jeong barked. The candles flared around in response. "Always know all the details before you make a plan, and always read!"

"I can read!" the boy replied. The candles flared even higher. Temper, temper.

"You have been chasing this child relentlessly because you did not read closely," Jeong Jeong snapped.

"I have no idea what you are talking about!" The foolish boy sounded exasperated.

"Fire Nation soil applies to a great deal of places besides the Home Islands, foolish boy. It means all the colonies. It means any ship larger than Tigerdillo class."

The boy nodded. He knew this much at least.

"All you had to do was take the Avatar to one of those locations where there is a person of sufficiently high rank and bravery to state that you have done so, then find a few other witnesses to say they saw you with him. You would have fulfilled your terms. Your banishment would have to be lifted."

The boy looked to the left. He looked to the right. He looked at his hands. Then he looked back at Jeong Jeong. He seemed very discombobulated by logic. Most young men were in Jeong Jeong's experience.

"My father would never have …" the boy started to say, sounding distressed.

"If you fulfilled your terms, he would have no choice but to lift your banishment."

Legally at least, the Mad Fire Lord would have to take his son back if he wanted to show respect to Fire Nation tradition, laws and customs. But there were worrying rumbles that the madman found himself even above Great Agni and had been trying steadily to strip power from the Fire Sages over a perceived slight.

Such disrespect to the guardians of the spirits. Disgraceful.

"It can't be so easy," Iroh's nephew said softly, sounding shocked.

"You are thinking that your father does not want you back. This is most likely true after the way he treated you and the task he set you. No father would ever do that to a son they wanted to see again," Jeong Jeong said bluntly.

The boy turned his face away to look very intently over his left shoulder, clearly upset. His mouth was set in a firm line and he wiped angrily at his face.

He might be upset now, but it was better for him in the long run to acknowledge the truth. The truth set people free, after all. Jeong Jeong had never agreed with Iroh's determination to try and protect the boy's feelings with regards to his monster of a father. Iroh had said the boy still craved the madman's approval.

Iroh said he was trying to be sensitive.

Iroh could be a fool.

It evidently ran in the family.

Jeong Jeong did not believe in _being sensitive._

"I imagine after setting you such an impossible task, the Mad Fire Lord would not have included conditions about the length of the Avatar's stay on Fire Nation soil?" Jeong Jeong began again, not even bothering to hide his disdain for the Mad Fire Lord's intelligence.

"No, there's nothing about that," the boy said, visibly collecting himself.

"Well then, Foolish Boy, since you are travelling together with the Avatar, why don't you just _ask_ him to go into a colony with you?" Jeong Jeong said slowly, breaking it down into the simplest step. "If you do not wish to see the young Avatar hurt, this would be a much better stratagem. He can leave immediately afterwards and escape the terrible fate planned for him."

"What do you mean?" the boy asked, sounding concerned now.

"Only that you never needed to drag him back to the Home Islands so he could be horribly burned and mutilated, his bending seared out of him."

"What?" the boy exploded, sitting bolt upright, looking horrified and aghast, like he'd had no idea of the disgusting plan Sozin had come up with for neutralising Avatars.

"What else did you think they were going to do with him?" Jeong Jeong asked, feeling the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose in impatience.

What were they teaching children in schools these days?

Certainly not logic.

He mourned for his nation.

"That is what our once proud nation has become," Jeong Jeong said, not bothering to hide the revulsion in his voice. "We are a nation that would cauterise the hands and feet off a young boy to stop him from being a threat."

The foolish boy sagged back and held his hand over his mouth like he was stifling the urge to vomit. He looked horror-struck and disgusted … but not surprised. He knew something of their nation's capacity for cruelty at least.

"A country that needs to do something so disgraceful to prove its greatness is anything but great. We have lost our way. Once fire was life! Now fire only means pain and suffering and death," Jeong Jeong concluded dramatically, feeling his bitter and conflicted feelings about his own bending rise to the surface.

Why had he been afflicted with the terrible, burning curse?

"Is that why you left?" the foolish boy asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"I found I could no longer be part of such senseless destruction. When I saw General Bujing's plans for that division…" Jeong Jeong clenched his fist. He still felt angry about it, even after all this time. "We _throw away life_ like it has no meaning, no value."

Jeong Jeong felt his memory drift back to those frantic days. He'd announced the plans to the entire division and told them exactly what they meant for the common soldiers. He declared exactly what he thought of the Mad Fire Lord, the usurper who had stolen the crown: a father who couldn't even love his own son and who was now expected to be father to the nation. He'd declared that he would not serve such a despicable man. To his surprise and dismay, almost the entire division had agreed.

He had not intended to start a minor rebellion. He had only hoped to depart with some semblance of honesty and style.

" _You wanted to leave in a blaze of glory,"_ Iroh had criticised, and perhaps he had been right.

Still, Jeong Jeong had never been one to shirk his responsibilities. He had tried to keep safe all the ones who had followed him that day. He'd done his best for them.

"I saved all that I could," Jeong Jeong said, not sure why he was trying to justify himself to this foolish boy. Perhaps because this boy had also valued life over destruction. He had suffered for these people too. The large scar on his face was testament to that.

"It was the largest mass desertion in Fire Nation history," Jeong Jeong added, feeling a spark of pride.

"They survived? You took them all with you?" The boy sounded hopeful.

"Not all. Some were too afraid. Some could not think for themselves beyond the propaganda they had been taught. Some were too weak to do what they thought was right," Jeong Jeong said, and regarded the foolish boy in front of him.

Foolish this boy may be, but no one could have ever accused him of being too weak to do what he thought was right. Thirteen years old and he'd been the only one to speak up against this madness. That was something all the adults in the room, decorated generals who knew far better, were too afraid to do.

What had Iroh said about the foolish boy?

" _He has a good heart, he's just very misguided_."

Perhaps that was why Iroh, his dear friend, had given up everything to live aboard a dilapidated, rust-bucket of a ship for three years. He'd given it all up to better guide his nephew. Jeong Jeong had tried to do at least that much for him, in his own way.

"You did a very brave and honourable thing when you spoke up for them," Jeong Jeong said.

They boy's head snapped up and he gaped at Jeong Jeong. He did not seem used to hearing compliments. Jeong Jeong himself was not normally in the habit of giving them. He had no idea how to make this moment less awkward.

So he dismissed the boy and asked him to send Chey down.

-0-

Aang tried watching closely as Zuko started the fire for breakfast to figure out how he did it. Aang wanted to start playing with fire soon. Zuko used Sokka's coupon for half price Home Island Barbecue as kindling. There was squabbling.

"Are you excited about firebending, Aang?" Katara asked, over the top of their squabbling.

"Jeong Jeong keeps saying I'm not ready for fire. He wants to show me some breathing exercises today," Aang said, trying not to sound disgruntled.

He had gone to find his firebending master at sunrise, very eager to start. He had been rudely told "No Fire!", then just as rudely dismissed.

"I'm sure there's a good reason," Katara said, and then coughed meaningfully at Zuko.

He stopped squabbling with Sokka and sat up a bit straighter. "Breathing right is important, Aang. All fire comes from the breath. Jeong Jeong probably wants you to have solid control before you move on to using fire."

"But I'm ready to play with fire now," Aang said, unable to keep the impatience from his voice.

"Fire isn't a toy, Aang. You don't play with it," Zuko said in this severe tone Aang hadn't heard from him before. He sounded a little like Monk Gyatso when he'd discovered Aang had stolen all the custard. "You need to listen to Jeong Jeong. He's got some interesting ideas." Zuko then rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He coughed a few times to clear his throat. "Listen, I have something I have to ask you..."

He explained what Jeong Jeong had said to him last night about his banishment terms. He asked if Aang would be willing to go to a colony or a big Fire Nation ship with him, hang around for a bit, tell an official Zuko had brought him there, then leave. Zuko wouldn't make him stay, but he just needed to be seen with Aang. It could end his banishment without Aang having to be captured and taken back to the Fire Nation. He started going on about how he knew it was a huge ask.

"Of course I'll do it!" Aang interrupted. It wasn't a big ask at all. He'd be happy to help Zuko out. "I can't believe it's that easy, eh?" he added cheerfully.

"How is it that easy?" Sokka asked, sounding sceptical.

"Jeong Jeong pointed out that I hadn't ... err … read my terms of banishment thoroughly enough," Zuko said, looking sheepish.

"You're kidding, aren't you?" Sokka said, looking both incredibly entertained and horribly appalled. "You chased us clear from the South Pole because you didn't read your instructions properly?"

"I read them properly! They're just ... open to interpretation," Zuko said, sounding defensive.

Sokka burst out laughing. "This is _too good!_ I am never letting you live this down. You know that, right?"

"If we do this, you won't be following us anymore?" Katara asked slowly.

"No, I'll go home," Zuko said. He sounded so hopeful.

Katara turned away from him and looked towards the river with a strange expression on her face.

"What if we get on a ship or get to a town and they don't want to let me go?" Aang asked suddenly, sounding a little worried.

A determined expression passed over Zuko's face. "I won't let them take you back to the Fire Nation, I promise. I'll get you out. If I can get you out of Pohuai Stronghold, I can get you off a ship or out of some village," he said forcefully.

"Should we just go back to the colony nearby this afternoon?" Sokka asked eagerly. "Not that I'm trying to get rid of you, but we could get this sorted today!"

"That colony might be a little small. I need to find one with a governor who will vouch for me," Zuko said.

"You mean a governor with balls big enough to tell your scary dad something he doesn't want to hear?" Sokka guessed.

"Yes." Zuko looked to the side. Now he was looking at the river with a weird expression on his face.

"Where are you going to find someone like that?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"I don't know! But it has got to be easier than going back to just endlessly chasing you guys after I go back to my uncle!" Zuko snapped. He froze. "Wait a minute … my uncle knows practically everyone. He might know somebody who'd do it."

"Well, you can figure that out and find someone while I'm up in the Northern Water Tribe. Then when we finish up there, we'll come find you," Aang offered.

"Really?" Zuko's eyes were shining optimistically. It was a strange expression for him. Aang was so used to seeing him with a grumpy face.

"Really, I promise," Aang said, feeling so glad that he could help Zuko go home.

"Yeah, I second that. If this means we won't have to put up with you chasing us, I am in!" Sokka said. "Sheesh, you could have just asked ages ago!"

"You know, this means I was right," Aang started to say, feeling very vindicated. The others looked at him curiously. "If we had just talked about friendship in the forest, we could have sorted this out weeks ago!"

"Boo, forest friendship!" Sokka said.

"Don't boo him," Katara admonished, elbowing her brother.

"I agree with Sokka. There's no way I would have appreciated that speech weeks ago, Aang," Zuko said.

Sokka smiled at Zuko for saying he agreed with him. It actually wasn't that rare of an occurrence, but it still seemed to surprise Sokka every time.

"See, Aang, forest friendship is bullshit," Sokka said.

"I didn't say that!" Zuko cut in. "I just meant, maybe … I had to be dragged all over the Earth Kingdom by you guys ... and shot ... and taken to nonsense fortune tellers ... and I had to be forced to eat Sokka's truly terrible and disgusting cooking—"

"Oi!"

"—and I had listen to Aang lecture me about friendship and vegetarianism in the forest just so I could come here." He looked around at the deserters' camp site. "I dunno, maybe it was meant to be this way."

"What are you saying? You want to be forest friends with Aang now?" Sokka asked accusingly.

"I mean, sure. If Aang will have me, we can be friends," Zuko said, and looked uncertain.

"Yay! I knew you'd want to be my friend," Aang said, feeling delighted.

He was so happy he had a Fire Nation friend again. Kuzon had been an amazing friend, even though he'd gotten Aang into so many sticky situations. He had already thought Zuko was his friend, but it was nice to make it official. Aang always knew the Fire Nation had good people in it too, and now he had been proven right. He jumped up and gave Zuko a huge hug.

"Ow, ow, ow. Shot in the shoulder, remember?" Zuko groaned.

Aang released him, but still smiled widely.

"Boo, you two!" Sokka said, but his tone was very fond and his smile was wide.

After breakfast, Sokka went off to go fishing. Katara wanted to practice her waterbending. Zuko wanted to help out around the camp and meet a few of the deserters, who kept calling him "Your Highness" and were very deferential to him. It was weird to see people bowing to Zuko like that, like he was super important. Aang had kind of forgotten that Zuko was meant to be royalty. Aang went to learn from Jeong Jeong, feeling so light in his heart.

Jeong Jeong made it very clear he didn't think Aang should be learning firebending just yet. He set Aang up with breathing exercise after breathing exercise after breathing exercise. He made Aang squat for what felt like hours ... just breathing! Occasionally, he'd yell at Aang to have a wider stance. In the afternoon, he made Aang climb a giant hill—just to breathe! It was so boring standing up there on his own. It wasn't too long before Aang was feeling very frustrated. By the end of the day, he was fed up.

The next morning wasn't much better. Jeong Jeong made Aang feel really embarrassed in front of Katara. She laughed at his stance. Aang felt his cheeks flush bright red. He complained loudly to the others at lunch. He asked Zuko if learning firebending was always this tedious. Zuko did not seem impressed with Aang's moaning.

"Jeong Jeong is doing you a huge favour by teaching you, Aang. He's committing super-mega-treason for you. He's a great master. It would be an honour to learn from him," Zuko said.

"Well, you can do the lame breathing on a hill then," Aang snapped.

Aang was a little disappointed. He had hoped his new friend would take his side.

"Maybe I will. I might ask him if he'll show me some moves too," Zuko said.

"He won't show you anything fun. He won't let me do any real firebending and he makes me feel stupid all the time," Aang whined.

"He doesn't think you are stupid," Katara said, but all three boys made a face at her. Jeong Jeong did not possess enough tact to hide his feelings when he thought someone was stupid.

"At least he calls you by your name," Zuko offered, after a beat.

"He calls me Avatar!" Aang replied.

"Isn't that ... part of your full name? Avatar Aang?" Zuko asked.

"Well, I prefer Aang," Aang corrected.

"Still better than what I get. He just calls me Foolish Boy."

"He just calls me Oaf," Sokka added with a shrug.

"To be fair, you are an oaf," Zuko replied cheekily.

"Well, you only just figured out you didn't have to drag Aang all the way back to the Fire Nation after three years of _not reading your instructions_ **.** Maybe Foolish Boy isn't so far off for you either," Sokka fired back.

It was nice to see that even though Zuko was royalty, Sokka was still going to treat him the same and squabble with him endlessly. Aang had been a bit worried that their new friend was going to ditch them to hang out with the other deserters. They seemed very keen to bow to him and serve him. Aang knew that most rich people liked that. It made Aang glad that Zuko didn't seem to want to be treated any differently by them.

At that moment, Jeong Jeong walked past and nodded at each of them in turn, addressing them as "Avatar, Foolish Boy, Oaf, Water Girl."

Zuko got up quickly and bowed towards the old master. "Master Jeong Jeong, I would be honoured if you would agree to teach me too. There is much I can learn from you," he said solemnly.

"Yes, Foolish Boy. I will teach you. You have so much to learn. So much." Jeong Jeong shook his head. "I mourn for our nation," he declared to no one in particular.

"Huh? Why did you agree to teach him so quickly?" Aang interjected, trying not to feel a little annoyed. He'd practically had to beg Jeong Jeong to teach him the other night while Jeong Jeong ranted about fish in rivers and burning curses. "Zuko already knows firebending!"

"Quiet! Foolish Boy has mastered control of his fire. You have not even mastered control of your mouth!" Jeong Jeong then shook his head as if he was disappointed in Aang. "Cannot breathe properly, always interrupting. Fire is a burning curse. You are _not ready!_ " he shouted before wandering off.

"Fire is a burning curse?" Sokka chuckled when Jeong Jeong was a good distance away. "He makes firebending sound like a venereal disease."

"Firebending is not like a venereal disease!" Zuko snapped.

There was some more squabbling.

-0-

Jeong Jeong set Aang up with the dry leaf control exercise then gestured for Zuko to follow him. They hiked up to the high peak in silence. There were so many questions Zuko wanted to ask, but he had learned very quickly that Jeong Jeong preferred silence. So he had held his tongue and waited for the old man to speak.

Who knew what crazy thing he would say next?

Zuko had never thought he was especially rebellious. He had always tried to be a good and obedient son. He had strived his hardest to make his father proud, even though it had often seemed impossible. He'd been so loyal to his country, his mission and the idea that he needed to regain his honour to please his father.

One short conversation with Jeong Jeong had upended all of that.

When Jeong Jeong had said what they planned to do with Aang once he was in the Fire Nation, Zuko had felt his stomach revolt. It was all he could do to keep down the ridiculous amount of meat he'd eaten with Sokka. It was despicable, vicious and shameful ... but not surprising. Not really. It was just like his father.

His father liked hurting people.

Something clicked into place for Zuko then. _Your dad is a fucking psycho._ Sokka had said it so matter-of-fact, like it was that simple. His father was exactly the sort of person who would relish the chance to horribly burn an innocent child. Zuko felt cold dread flush down his spine when he thought of the terrible fate that awaited friendly, cheerful Aang.

It was so sickening. It was monstrous. It was no way to regain your honour. Zuko would be damned to Koh's Lair before he'd let _that_ happen to Aang, even if there hadn't been another way to lift his banishment.

He might be banished and disgraced, but he would never willingly participate in mutilating a child. That wasn't the sort of person he was. He thought of his mother. She'd told him not to change, not to forget who he was. It was the last thing she'd ever said to him. Maybe she meant this.

His father was still his father, though. He was Zuko's family. Family was important. Zuko knew he was meant to love him anyway, no matter what sort of person he was. Jeong Jeong had said that his father didn't want him back. It had hurt. It had hurt so much because Zuko knew, in his heart of hearts, that it was true.

They had finally gotten to the top of the mountain. The whole valley lay beneath them, stretching away to the sea. Jeong Jeong wanted him to try to maintain the phoenix balancing sequence for as long as he could.

"Holding a balance, maintaining it can be difficult. Especially when there are things to distract you," Jeong Jeong had said, right before he fired a blast towards Zuko.

Zuko dropped the posture to block the blast defensively before he realised that Jeong Jeong had actually been aiming above him. It never would have hit him.

Jeong Jeong made a rumbling noise. "So defensive. Interesting."

Zuko couldn't tell if this was approval or disapproval.

"Balancing postures are cruel masters. They require concentration. If there is anything out of alignment, you will know," Jeong Jeong said, then sat a short distance away and watched him.

Many moments of silence passed.

"What will you do after you reunite with your uncle and lift your banishment?" Jeong Jeong asked.

Zuko wondered if the old master was trying to distract him and make him fall again. "Return home," he said simply.

"Mmmhhh, so disappointing. I expected better," Jeong Jeong said with that same deep rumble.

"I have a duty to my people," Zuko said, feeling frustrated. "I can't just run away and join your deserters to live in squalor." He didn't want to be disrespectful, but sometimes Jeong Jeong did his head in.

"Yes, you should," Jeong Jeong said bluntly. "It would be the right and honourable thing to do if you truly loved your people."

Zuko stumbled. Jeong Jeong had taken him by surprise again. It took Zuko a long moment to right himself. He didn't reply. He knew Jeong Jeong didn't want him to. He was in speech mode. He was probably going to start using phrases like "terrible burden" and "burning curse" at any moment.

"You could choose to be very useful to your people, to work at making a better world ... or you can choose to go back home, sit in a palace, and mope like a spoiled brat," Jeong Jeong said after a long moment.

That did break Zuko's concentration and he dropped his balance. "I would never..." he started to say, feeling pissed off. He wasn't going home just to lounge it up like a lazy bastard.

He wanted to argue, but Jeong Jeong gestured for silence, his face implacable. Jeong Jeong instructed him to resume the balance and hold it for as long as he could, then complete a series of sun salutes, postures and katas before trying again. Then Jeong Jeong started back down the hill to check on Aang.

"There is something I want you to ponder, Iroh's Nephew," Jeong Jeong called from a little way down the mountain.

Zuko looked at him expectantly and waited.

"You are your father's son, but you could be so much more. Your legacy does not have to be war and pain and destruction. Meditate on that."

-0-

Katara held her glowing water over Aang's burn as they flew away from the burning wreckage of Jeong Jeong's camp, leaving the furious Zhao behind them. There was no sign of the other deserters or Jeong Jeong. That was really frustrating because they needed to find Zuko and Jeong Jeong was the only person who knew where he was.

Sokka was alternatively moaning about Katara's lack of first aid over the years and about having to search for Zuko. "He used to always just find us! I miss the days when he was following us! Everything was easier then!"

"He's there!" Aang said suddenly, pointing over the side.

Zuko was running down a rather steep mountain towards the fire. They shouted out to get his attention. Aang bent a huge airblast under the prince that vaulted him very high into the sky, then steered Appa so Zuko could land in the saddle as he fell. Katara reached out and grabbed his arm to pull him in.

"Can you give me some warning before you do that next time?" Zuko spluttered to Aang as he gripped the edge of the saddle tightly, white-faced. Then he turned to Katara. "Thanks," he said much more gently.

Aang turned Appa back around to continue north.

"Wait, where are we going?" Zuko said, as he noticed which direction they were flying in. "I think the camp is on fire. We need to go back and help."

"No can do, buddy," Sokka called from the front. "Zhao attacked and now we have to put as much distance between us and him."

Zuko protested that Zhao was _the worst_ and they needed to go back and help the deserters fight that bastard. Sokka explained that all the deserters had buggered off and there weren't any left around the camp. They probably had a fall-back position and some crazy strategy to use in case they came under attack. Hadn't Jeong Jeong been some highly-decorated general, after all? Surely he'd have a contingency plan. Zuko sighed and agreed. He still seemed a bit disgruntled, though.

Katara knew something that might cheer him up. It had been one of her first thoughts when she figured out that she could heal. She could make him feel better, especially now that he didn't want to catch Aang anymore. It made her stomach flip around like crazy to think of it. They didn't have to be enemies. They could be friends! That thought made her smile so wide.

She smiled that big, crazy smile at him now. "I've got something to show you," she said as she gestured him closer.

He scooched over. She coated her hand in her bending water, announcing that she was going to try and make his shoulder better. He raised his good eyebrow at her sceptically, but didn't protest. She slid her hand under his shirt to where she knew the wound was and concentrated. She could feel it, all that bundled and tangled energy and damaged tissue. _Just be healed, just feel better,_ she thought as she felt it happen. The water was glowing again and the torn and frayed edges were beginning to knit together under her palm. Zuko gasped and looked between the glowing water around her palm and her face in open astonishment.

It was working.

"Jeong Jeong told me that some waterbenders have healing abilities," Katara explained, feeling elated. "I just figured out how to use mine today."

"How did you figure it out?" Zuko asked, interested.

"Well, after Aang burned me …" She started to say.

"You burned her! How?" He twisted away from Katara to yell at Aang.

Her water splashed down onto the saddle and her concentration was broken. Aang was fidgeting under Zuko's angry gaze.

"Oi, I wasn't finished yet," Katara said, trying to distract him.

She didn't want Zuko to yell at Aang. Aang had just gotten a little over excited about firebending. It had been an accident. Aang didn't mean it. Katara knew he felt guilty about it.

"You were doing basic control lessons when I left. You shouldn't have even been near fireblasts yet," Zuko said, not dropping the subject.

"I got impatient. I just wanted to do the fun stuff," Aang said, looking wretched. He turned to her, grey eyes shining with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry Katara, I'll never learn firebending again," he said mournfully, echoing what he had said in Jeong Jeong's hut.

Katara reached for him to console him. She told him that she was okay and showed him her unblemished hands again. She reminded him that he would have to learn firebending eventually. Aang was adamant that he wouldn't, for her.

"Aang, that is not the answer," Zuko said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You have just got to _listen_ to your next firebending teacher and learn from your mistakes. No teacher will make you use fire before you are ready."

Aang looked unsure. "Jeong Jeong was always talking about how dangerous fire is. It just destroys everything and it's only good for hurting people. He's right! I don't want to hurt anyone ever again. " Aang looked down at his hands and sounded disturbed at the very thought of inflicting pain on someone.

"Aang, firebending isn't bad or evil. It doesn't have to hurt people," Zuko started to say.

Sokka coughed very, very loudly here.

"Shut up, Sokka!" Zuko shouted, cross at being interrupted. He turned back to Aang. "When you learn to control it, you won't hurt people. I've been firebending all the time while I've been travelling with you guys and I haven't hurt any of you. Your firebending won't hurt people unless you want it to hurt people, and you don't."

The downcast expression fell from Aang's face and he looked back up at Zuko.

"You just have to be careful with your fire in the future," Zuko said, trying for a more reassuring tone. "You made a mistake today, but I'm sure you won't make the same mistake again."

Aang brightened a little and then looked at Zuko curiously. "Would you teach me?" he asked after a moment, sounding hopeful and sincere.

"Pfft, I'm not agreeing to teach you just after you burned Katara."

Aang looked offended.

"Sorry, Aang," Zuko said, trying for a more placating tone when he saw Aang's reaction. "I think Jeong Jeong was right about learning the elements in order. You should probably do water first."

When they landed, Katara wanted to try and heal Zuko properly. She reached out and took his hand. They walked to the creek together. She'd figured out that cleaner water seemed to work better than her weeks-old bending water for healing. She got him to take off his shirt and then she started on the shoulder again. He made an almost euphoric noise and closed his eyes as she worked on it.

It was most distracting.

She finished and leaned back to look at her work. There was still a tiny scar about the size of her pinky nail, but it felt like all the internal damage was repaired. She asked him how it felt. He rolled his shoulders in circles a few times and shrugged them up and down before turning to her and smiling at her.

Properly smiling made him look rather handsome. She felt her stomach flutter a little as she met his gaze and leaned forward again. They were sitting so close together and just staring at each other and smiling like idiots.

"It feels really good," Zuko said, looking at her like he thought she was amazing.

She wanted to try healing everything for him. She started on what was left of the bruises he still had from Makapu to see if there was anything she could do to help with those. They faded before her eyes, but she kept "healing" for a few more moments than necessary. She liked the feeling of stroking his chest and the little squirm he did when her fingers were up near his armpits. She couldn't resist the urge.

She tickled him.

He tried to wiggle away, but then made a pained gasp. "Sorry, I think my ribs are still broken."

It kind of ruined the moment. Katara mentally slapped herself for being so silly. She started trying to heal his ribs, very sensibly this time, not letting her fingers stray ... anywhere they weren't meant to go. She tried for ages, frowning in concentration, but she couldn't make the water do what she wanted it to do. Zuko said it felt a little better, but she thought he was just saying that to humour her. She could feel that she hadn't fixed it.

"I guess I can't do bones yet," she said, feeling disappointed in herself.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Zuko said in his raspy voice, trying to sound encouraging.

It struck her like a snowball to the face, the sudden realisation of how much she was going to miss him. They only had a few more days together before she would have to give him back to his uncle. It was stupid and impossible and nonsensical. She knew all of that, but she felt it all the same. She wanted to keep him.

"Stay," Katara said suddenly, just blurting it out completely unbidden. Then she blushed furiously.

"Stay?" Zuko echoed, very confused by her outburst.

"Stay with us," Katara said, feeling horribly embarrassed.

Since she'd already gone and blurted out her crazy, stupid hope, she wanted to see what his answer would be. Maybe he would agree that the Fire Nation was stupid and awful and only hurt him. She could take care of him, if he'd let her. Even though he dismissed it this afternoon, if he really thought about it, he would see that it made sense for him to teach Aang firebending now that they had agreed to be friends. Maybe he'd say yes.

"No," he said, shocked. He sounded completely bewildered that she had even asked. "Katara, I can't stay."

She pouted and looked away from him. She felt like Sokka had just thrown a bucket of cold water all over her. She thought he would say that, but it still hurt to hear it.

"I just figured out how to be un-banished without anyone having to be hurt. I'm not going to go home after all this time, only to turn around and then commit super-mega-massive-treason," he said, continuing to explain.

She sniffed primly at this and refused to turn around.

"I've got to go home, Katara. I have a duty to my people. If I don't go back, then it means my sister is going to be the next Fire Lord and she is the worst."

His tone was almost pleading, like he wanted desperately for her to understand. She did understand. Really, she did. But she was still mad about it. She felt horribly rejected and it made her angry.

She hated goodbyes.

She hated people leaving her.

"Fine. Whatever. It was stupid anyway." She dismissed the idea a little savagely. She got up abruptly and stalked away, wiping fiercely at her eyes.

But it wasn't like before, when he'd been slowed down by his injuries. She couldn't just run away from him now. Quicker than lightning, he'd gotten up to follow her. She felt his warm hand on her shoulder within a second.

"Katara, wait. Don't be mad," he said softly.

"I'm not mad," she said, feeling rooted to the spot.

Zuko snorted in disbelief. "You seem kind of mad."

Tui and La, she was even going to miss the way he snorted!

"What can I do?" he asked, sounding baffled and exasperated.

That simple question did it for Katara. She couldn't be mad at him, not when she knew how much he wanted to make her feel better. He'd always done it before when she'd get in a snit over this or that. Aang and Sokka used to avoid her when she was in what Sokka called a "mood." But Zuko always came and found her and tried to cheer her up. She knew she wasn't being fair to him at all. It wasn't fair to keep him when he only wanted to go home. If they only had a couple of days, she didn't want to spend them being angry at him.

She turned quickly and wrapped her arms around his waist, trying to be gentle and avoid where she knew he was still hurt. He stood awkwardly for a moment, then she felt his arms cautiously wrap around her in return. He held her against his chest ... his bare chest. A strange thrill ran down her spine.

"I'm really going to miss you when you go," she whispered.

Maybe she imagined it, but she thought she heard his heart beat faster when she said that. He rested his chin on top of her head and sighed deeply against her hair.

"I'll miss you too."

Notes:

One thousand billion thanks to boogum for the beta.

Lovely readers, your feedback feeds my creative engine. Reviews, kudos and messages are always appreciated. Huge thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave feedback.

So today, I'll ramble about:

Is Firelord Ozai a good fire-lord?

Jeong Jeong,

Zuko's protective instincts are stronger than his self-preservation instincts,

Fire bending.

Zuko Katara and emotional intimacy.

So, Ozai. Is he any good at his job? My thinking is _not really._ I just can't see him doing the boring admin work that Zuko is always drowning in during future fics. I actually think Ozai wouldn't give that much of shit about admin. I would doubt that he would be a beloved leader. He would be extremely feared, and unpredictable. (Dude is a psycho who burned half his own son's face off. Burning Zuko the way he did is just _too much,_ but it was very calculated and deliberate. It sends a message to all his detractors. )

He is the Fire Nation equivalent of a horse loose in the hospital (This is a reference to John Mulaney's fabulous explanation about how he views the Trump presidency). The way Ozai becomes Firelord is dodgy as fuck. You can't tell me that didn't raise eyebrows, and concerns. If Iroh had any fight in him, after losing Lu Ten, I think it could have easily escalated into a civil war.

I think Ozai does so many power displays, not only because he is a dick, but because he feels that he needs to, in order to maintain control. He does not have the love of the people, but he can make them fear him.

I think he liked war and violence, and promoted people like Zhao and General Buijing. He's surrounding himself with yes-men. It would create a vicious feedback loop of violent, bigoted idiots. I think he would have logically demoted or passed over anyone seen as too close to Iroh or his Father, or found a way to hold leverage over them. He is certainly clever and manipulative and knows how to play his cards.

I can see many more poorly-thought-out, excessively savage campaigns under his rule, as a result. (the whole burn the entire Earth Kingdom to the ground is a classic example. That whole plan is strategically ridiculous), I had Zuko mention back in chapter 4 that there were much more deserters under his father's rule. Jeong Jeong's camp actually has many people in it, and there has to be more than two deserters in the Earth Kingdom. I can see seasoned generals, who are actually carrying out the campaigns, feeling disdain for Ozai. I can see him being viewed as mad by a large portion of them.

However, because of the way the Fire Nation works politically (absolute monarchy/dictatorship), dire consequences associated with treason, and the fact that, without Zuko, there isn't really an alternative fire-lord (Azula being seen as a mini version of her dad), no one stands up to him. But smaller, less noticeable acts of rebellion, like choosing a blue spirit mask during a festival, would become more common.

Jeong Jeong – the most dramatic and grumpy character in the white lotus, and possibly ATLA. Sorry Zuko, you can try, but you will never out-dramatic Jeong Jeong. Jeong Jeong is _that extra._ Anyway, I think Jeong Jeong and Iroh would have been buddies who had very different philosophies about how to deal with the problems caused by their country. Jeong Jeong favours direct action, while Iroh prefers sleight-of-hand subterfuge. "God created war so that Americans would learn geography." is a quote from Mark Twain, so Jeong Jeong can't take credit for that.

While Iroh is a great mentor to Zuko, I started to wonder what he would gain from Jeong Jeong, a mentor who would make zero effort to spare his feelings. He needed to hear some brutal truths this chapter that were delivered with all the tact of a sledgehammer, but he'll be better for it. He's realised something about his dad. I finagled a way that Zuko could be un-banished without having to take Aang back to the fire-nation. The Gaang can now be proper friends. Yay forest friendship.

The biggest catalyst for Zuko letting go of his mission is finding out what would happen to Aang as a result. I honestly think Aang's fate in the Fire-Nation it was something Zuko never considered. He was only focused on the immediate goal. I think it was a Kimberly T fic that had the awful idea for how the FN would probably "neutralise" Aang in a gruesome way – effectively keeping him "alive but just barely", as Zhao said. _Brrrr, gives me shivers._ Yikes, poor Aang.

At this point, despite himself, Zuko feels protective and responsible towards Aang. He wouldn't feel that defensive about how his father had harmed him, (because he has been conditioned to accept the abuse, he has a lot of mental baggage about it and feels like he deserved it). The very thought of his father hurting Aang would make Zuko's stomach revolt. He doesn't react to violence directed towards his own person the same way that he reacts to violence directed at others. He always stands up for other people. Zuko has always been more protective over other people than concerned for his own well-being and safety.

Aang would be better for learning Fire-bending from Zuko over Jeong Jeong (but this is something that Aang realises). Jeong Jeong was just so over-the-top negative about Fire-bending. He only sees the bad, but there are two sides to fire bending. The Jeong Jeong incident really set Aang back, as far as his confidence is concerned. Zuko has a much more balanced view of fire-bending and would work with Aang.

Zuko had been doing bog standard stuff with his fire-bending for a while now, like cooking for people and keeping them warm, lighting the way when it gets dark, etc. So he knows from personal experience that it can be used for more than just violence. Light and warmth are aspects of fire as much as destruction.

Zuko, Katara and emotional intimacy.

Katara was the first one to properly extend the hand of trust here. It happen before Zuko found a way to be "unbanished" without taking Aang back, because I thought that would make it more meaningful to Zuko, to be properly trusted and believed, after all this time. Zuko makes Katara's physical and emotional well-being a priority. His immediate gut-reaction refusal to teach Aang is because he had just hurt Katara, (not because it would be seen as high treason).

Katara is getting more visibly affectionate and attached here, but she has been wanting to hug him since Makapu, and will generally be the more bold of the two in this regard. Zuko is learning to reciprocate the tenderness she shows him, and will often mimic her gestures of affection. More than just becoming more comfortable with physically touching each other, these two have rapidly become each other's confidant.

This is one of the things I love so much about this pairing, is how honest and trusting their communication is. In the show, in that cave, they have such a meaningful and deep conversation and it's so intimate, and it happens after like 5 minutes of them being in each other's company. Zuko lets himself be vulnerable with Katara in a way that he doesn't with anyone else in the series. He's got more walls than Ba Sing Se, so this is huge for him. Katara drops so many of her facades around Zuko. She doesn't feel like she has to hide any part of herself from him. These two just 'get' each other, and I wanted to show that here.

Next chapter we will go to the Northern Air Temple, and see how it goes down when the Gaang try to hand Zuko back.

Til then my lovelies.


	8. the Northern Air Temple

_Frozen hell!_

Snuggling had happened!

It was just as Sokka had always feared!

No, it was worse than Sokka had feared. He'd come back from hunting and found not even a hint that dinner had been started. No one was cooking. No one was even boiling water. Aang was still meditating. The kid probably needed to regain his zen after being exposed to the "Burning Curse". Sokka quickly found the other two idiots. They were still at the creek, just hugging each other.

Monkey feathers! How long had they been doing that?

Sokka had been gone for ages!

Now Sokka was going to die of dehydration because he never got to finish his water without giving into the urge to throw it all over those two. Much swearing, inelegant struggling and snowballs to the face accompanied this. As well as a great deal of confusion. Neither of them could understand why Sokka kept doing it. They kept demanding both 1) an explanation, and 2) that he stop.

Couldn't they see Sokka was doing it for them?

Sokka was just applying the most obvious solution to the problem of moon eyes. They needed to stop looking at each other that way, because no good could possibly come of it. They were on opposite sides of the war, for goodness' sake. This moon-eyes issue would only end in tears.

Sokka didn't want to put up with what he knew would be an endless avalanche of moping and feelings from Katara after they gave Zuko back to his uncle. Though he had only met Zuko's uncle briefly, Sokka was sure that Uncle What's-His-Face didn't want to put up with the angst volcano of sadness that would inevitably erupt from Zuko either.

He was actually doing everyone a massive favour. Those two were being very ungrateful.

On the second morning of Operation: Splash You, Zuko stole his waterskin and ran away with it. Sokka had chased him through the forest, but damn it that bastard was fast! Nearly as fast as Aang, who had assumed they were having a race and wanted to compete. Sokka had emerged, out of breath, on a clifftop. He saw Zuko dangling the waterskin over the side, threatening to chuck it in the ravine unless Sokka agreed to stop splashing him.

"Don't worry, Sokka, I can get it back for you," Aang offered.

"For fuck's sake! Don't get it back for him, Aang!" Zuko yelled. "I'm trying to make a point!"

"What's your point?" Aang asked mildly.

"That he should stop splashing me with cold water all the time!"

"Yeah, that's fair. Why do you keep doing that, Sokka?" Aang looked at Sokka with his wide, innocent grey eyes. Had Aang ... _not noticed_ what was going down with the other

two?

 _Frozen hell,_ that kid was oblivious.

Katara came through the bushes then, looking frazzled. She had opted to shout at them to not be idiots for a few moments rather than chase after them immediately, so they'd all had a big head start on her. She also still wanted an explanation. Sokka was in the extremely awkward position of having to explain the logic behind Operation: Splash You out loud to the entire group.

It would be too embarrassing. He just couldn't do it. There would be talk about feelings. Sokka would have to admit to having some and _…_ urgh _,_ worrying about Katara and Zuko's feelings.

He'd have to explain about inevitable moping avalanches and angst volcanoes. Then he'd have to tell them that the world hadn't turned into an endless supply of rainbows and seal-jerky just because they found someone they liked to have gross staring competitions with. Their countries were still at war last time Sokka checked. Instead of saying all this, he said it had been for his own amusement and opted to promise to stop Operation: Splash You, to Zuko's evident relief.

The group continued to travel. Their supplies were running low so it was good when they came across a village. After a brief squabble, Sokka convinced Zuko to wear one of his spare shirts and pretend to be his cousin. Sokka even got him the one that smelled the least, but the jerk was not very appreciative upon being told this.

Zuko sniffed it experimentally and made a sarcastic comment about Sokka's hygiene. Sokka made a comment about Zuko being from the asshole side of the family. Then a comment about royal families and inbreeding, which he thought was hilarious. An inelegant struggle ensued.

One of the things that had changed now that Zuko was feeling better was the tendency for their squabbles to escalate to rough-housing and graceless wrestling. Zuko always won, which sucked. He frequently criticised Sokka's form, stance and style, and tried to correct him. This had originally enraged Sokka until he had realised that Zuko was actually trying to teach him, in his own awkward Zuko way, how to fight better.

Zuko had confessed this was the case when Sokka had challenged him. He'd said: "You're fighting style is just tragic. It's so sloppy. It's honestly _the worst_ I've ever seen. It's so bad. I don't think you realise how bad it is. I just want to help you not fight like a dazed and confused octopus." At this point, Sokka knew Zuko well enough to know that he meant all that in a nice way.

They collected supplies from the town and loaded up Appa. They were just about to go when Aang overheard a storyteller talking about air walkers. Aang's combination of curiosity and inability to listen to Sokka's common sense meant that they all had to sit down for story time. At the end, Aang wandered over to talk to the storyteller, his eyes delighted at the prospect of talking about air walkers.

Sokka was out of money for the old guy passing the hat around. He didn't like feeling that he was a poor male provider or a cheapskate. Zuko had been paying for everything since the festival and he picked up the tab again here. But even those funds were dwindling. It was a good thing that they'd come into a hundred gold pieces soon.

"Why didn't you just take more money when you left?" Sokka asked Zuko, after he lamented the state of their finances.

"Well, I had no idea I'd have to be supporting you three lumps for weeks on end, did I?" Zuko fired back.

Katara shot him an offended look.

"Not you, Katara. You're not a lump," Zuko reassured her awkwardly.

His idiot sister looked at Zuko liked he'd just said something extremely romantic. Sokka was very sad that he had to give up Operation: Splash You. This would have been the perfect time to throw a huge amount of cold water all over both of them.

"I'm just saying," Sokka interjected, trying to stop the cursed moon-eyes, "you could have planned ahead a little bit more."

"Maybe I might have been concentrating more on getting Aang out of the _most fortified stronghold in the Fire Nation colonies_!" Zuko retorted, turning to face him.

"I'm just saying ninja skills and sound financial planning are not mutually exclusive. You should be able to do two things at once. Ever heard of multi-tasking?"

"I'll multi-task you."

Inelegant struggling erupted again. Sokka was getting much better. He'd been paying attention. Perhaps tonight would be the night that the Water Tribe was victorious over the Fire Nation?

"Guys, guys, guys! Great Grandpappy saw the airbenders last week!" Aang said jubilantly, interrupting what was sure to be an incredible victory.

The next morning they set off for the Northern Air Temple. Aang was bursting with excitement. Katara was being ridiculously optimistic and encouraging. Sokka and Zuko were sitting in the pessimistic corner of the bison, being pessimists together. It was nice to have some company in the pessimistic corner for once.

Zuko had apologised repeatedly (presumably for the ill deeds of his evil nation), and tried to tell Aang that the Fire Nation had hit every temple simultaneously during the last comet, including the Northern Air Temple. He didn't want Aang to get his hopes up.

Aang got his hopes up anyway.

Aang's hopes were then cruelly dashed, just like Sokka knew they would be. When Aang realised that the "air walkers" were just gliding and not airbending, he was despondent. When he saw the changes to the temples, he was resentful. He was a bit rude to the refugees, to be honest, about the changes that they had made to the temple and the ways that they had modernised it and made it liveable. Sokka didn't get it. They'd made it so much better.

Sokka went off with the Mechanist to see cool inventions and solve gaseous problems while Zuko and Katara threw Aang a pity party. This was Katara's favourite activity whenever Aang was feeling down. Zuko was probably just tagging along so he could make moon eyes at Katara.

There had been an awkward moment when Zuko had been introduced. The Mechanist and Teo both looked visibly frightened of him. It struck Sokka as ridiculous now, people being scared of Zuko. Zuko was a perpetually grumpy, awkward jerk, who _always_ believed Momo's sad, nobody-has-fed-me face and gave him extra food. He fell for it every single time. It was hard to be scared of someone who could be easily beguiled and tricked by the flying lemur.

In any case, Aang had been very emphatic that Zuko was his friend and was there with him. Teo had seemed content with that, shrugging and saying that any friend of the Avatar's was a friend of his.

Everyone had exploded with unhappiness when they found the Fire Nation balloon. Aang had been furious and Teo outraged. Sokka felt mostly disappointed, after the flash of anger had worn away. He liked the Mechanist. He liked his inventions and how his mind worked. He didn't like the idea that he had been using his brain to make weapons for the Fire Nation. Then the older man had explained how it had been necessary to protect the temple and everyone in it. Sokka had to concede that sometimes in life you only have bad choices.

The Mechanist seemed to have come around to Zuko as well by this point. After they found the war balloon, he'd trusted Zuko enough to let him help decipher some weird message he'd gotten from the Fire Nation, confessing that he didn't understand what some of the terms meant. Zuko had followed him to help.

Then Aang started some shit with the Fire Nation representative and there was much drama. Sokka thought the smartest thing to do would be to look to the future and come up with a plan rather than dwell in the past and wax philosophical about right and wrong. This was difficult for Aang, who was having a very hard time forgiving the Mechanist. Sokka couldn't tell if he was angrier at the fact that the Mechanist had been working with the Fire Nation or at the changes to the temple. Sokka suspected it was the changes to the temple.

It all ended well, though. Sokka got to do some mad inventing and battle planning. Everything worked. His ideas, inventions and strategies were all great. They were victorious over the Fire Nation, which was always awesome. Aang got over his little snit about how much the temple had changed and sacred artefacts and shit. He even agreed that nonbenders could live in the temple if they showed Air Nomad Spirit.

Aang's attitude to nonbenders annoyed Sokka a little. Aang had made it clear that he didn't think nonbenders were worthy of his glorious temple unless they had the proper "spirit". Spirit schmirit. These people had needed a home. The temple would have just been an empty shell, not being used by anyone. Why just leave it empty? It did no good to anyone as a monument to the past when there were people in need in the present. Sokka thought it was great that the refugees had been able to give the old temple a new lease on life.

Sokka didn't know how to say it. It sounded so girly to just go up to Aang and say, "The way you talk about nonbenders hurts my feelings." Boo feelings. He tried to push it aside. Aang was feeling down about being the last of his kind. It would make Sokka sound like a jerk if he brought it up with Aang now.

Katara was looking for Zuko. Sokka realised with a start that he hadn't seen him since they found the war balloon. The drama of the battle and the thrill of inventing and planning had pushed all other thoughts from his mind.

The Mechanist confessed that he hadn't actually needed anything deciphered when he'd led Zuko away. Instead, he had done some quick jigger-pokery, rigged up a trap, and locked Zuko unceremoniously in one of the storage cupboards on account of him being a firebender.

The Mechanist insisted that he had done it for the best, because you can't trust firebenders. Aang was furious. He felt like his temple had been disrespected all over again. Air had been the element of freedom. They would never lock people in cupboards … well, they would as a joke, but never seriously. He was getting a bit upset.

Katara tried to smooth over the dispute, saying she was sure the Mechanist would let Zuko out now. He agreed (a bit reluctantly, Sokka thought. The Mechanist was mostly worried that Zuko would punch him in the face upon being released, which was a fair point). Aang was still cross, and Katara started talking about hermit crabs for some unknown reason. However, Aang was listening to her, so it meant something to him. Sokka had clearly missed the hermit crab part of the day.

Sokka took a different tack. All this philosophical talk of hermit crabs wasn't getting his friend unlocked from a cupboard. He asked the Mechanist where he had stashed Zuko, then went off to unlock it himself. He found Zuko pretty quickly once he knew which floor he was on. He followed the sound of irate swearing and ineffectual lock-picking. It took Sokka many minutes to figure out how to unlock it again, because the jiggery pokery had been rather complicated. Zuko was very sarcastic about Sokka's door-unlocking skills.

Boy, did he sound furious at his cupboard situation. Sokka thought he should calm down. Saying this did not have a calming effect on Zuko. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Sokka said that, logically, even though what the Mechanist had done had been a total dick move, it had actually saved Zuko from a giant, awkward dilemma. Zuko had no idea what he was talking about.

"Well, I mean, you would have had to choose between fighting against your evil nation, who were trying to obliterate the temple and everyone in it, by the way. You would have been committing super-mega-treason ... or fighting against us with your evil nation, and we've only _just made friends._ " Sokka lifted his voice and tried to imitate Aang's cheerful voice when he talked about friends. "I mean, it would have been a tricky decision. What would you have done?"

"I don't know!" came the angry response.

Sokka didn't know either. Zuko would have only had shitty choices. Sokka knew what he thought the best one would have been, but he didn't know if Zuko would commit super-mega-treason for them. The guy really wanted to go home and super-mega-treason would make that difficult.

Perhaps the Mechanist was right about this. You couldn't trust firebenders when even they didn't know what they would do.

Sokka had come to … Frozen hell, there was no other word for it. He liked Zuko. The guy was a jerk, but he was the sort of jerk Sokka liked to hang out with. Sokka showed friendship through squabbling and sarcasm, but Zuko did the same. Sokka wasn't the only one who was what Katara called "a dense, insensitive lump".

However, Sokka still didn't trust Zuko to be able to choose which shitty option would be the least crap for everyone involved. Zuko had a knack for always choosing the _worst choice possible._ He seemed like he needed someone logical to talk him down from the poor-life-choices ledge and remind him to read his instructions properly. Sokka sincerely hoped his uncle would do this for him when they gave Zuko back. Someone should stop Zuko from throwing himself headlong into crappy situations. He was worse than Katara sometimes.

They left pretty quickly after Sokka had managed to get the lock open. Katara was super soppy about seeing Zuko again. Zuko started grumbling to her about how he hated everybody assuming he was this dangerous, untrustworthy pile of explosive danger just because he was a firebender.

Damnit _,_ now she was rubbing his shoulder and looking at him like he was stewed sea prunes and she hadn't eaten in days. Zuko was worse! He was looking at her like she was a family-sized pack of fire flakes and he was hungry for his spicy abomination of a snack.

 _Frozen hell,_ they'd only been separated for a handful of hours, but they were both so dramatic about being reunited. It was a good thing they were giving Zuko back tomorrow. Any more of this _nonsense_ and Katara was going to do something ridiculous, like ask his uncle if she could keep him.

The next morning had been a bit strange. Aang was relentlessly friendly. It was like he was trying to cram a hundred years of friendship into one morning. Zuko had no idea how to react to his overly cheerful barrage of friendship and was super weird about it. Katara was more emotional than usual and Sokka just knew the moping avalanche was coming. Everyone was very aware that it would be their last morning together.

Everything had a "last time" feel to it. This would be the last time he teased Zuko about putting fire flakes on everything. It would be the last time they had an inelegant struggle over a stupid comment. Zuko seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He stopped pretty quickly and offered to teach Sokka some real hand-to-hand techniques without even a squabbling pretext. Sokka found himself taking Zuko up on his offer. It was actually pretty fun.

After lunch, they went to the spot Zuko's uncle had indicated. There were no signs of a trap or of any other Fire Nation soldiers in the area, which was a small blessing. Zuko's weirdly affable uncle hadn't been lying. That suspicion had been niggling at Sokka the whole time.

Zuko told them how to address a messenger hawk to him so they could get in contact when they were finished up North. He told them many, many times until Sokka could have recited it in his sleep. It was like Zuko was worried that they'd just back out or forget about him. Zuko didn't really get the "friends" thing or trust that they wouldn't screw him over. Everyone promised him they wouldn't, but he took a great deal of convincing.

Zuko then explained at length how to use the messenger-collect system so they didn't have to pay. Sokka had seen him use it at Makapu and didn't need an explanation. But he was treated to at least three explanations anyway. Sokka said that if Zuko explained it again, Sokka was going to build a messenger hawk tower in the Northern Water Tribe just so that he could send Zuko thousands of annoying messenger hawks, all messenger-collect, and cost him a fortune.

"Don't underestimate my powers of annoyance! I can annoy you from afar!" he warned Zuko.

Zuko laughed and said he'd never underestimate Sokka's ability to be annoying. Sokka was the most annoying person he had ever met. This was both insulting and flattering at the same time.

Zuko said he still remembered the "Annoying Song". Occasionally, it still got stuck in his head. Ha ha, sucks to be Zuko.

Katara and Aang's interest had been piqued. Sokka had never really told them in depth about the annoying song. So Zuko explained that Sokka had sung it non-stop for almost the entire duration of his stay aboard the _Wani_. Then Zuko sang it for them, upon Katara's request, because he still remembered it and he wanted other people to commiserate with him about how annoying Sokka was.

 _Ding dang, ding dang dong, this is my annoying song. Everybody sing along, shalalalaa aaaaaaaarrrrgh!_

Aang and Katara looked at Sokka, very aghast. Sokka maintained that it was even more annoying when Zuko sung it and his version had been superior. He demonstrated his version, which definitely had a much clearer melody.

"You mean he sang that song non-stop for two days and you didn't throw him overboard?" Katara asked.

Then they laughed. Zuko fessed up that if everything hadn't gone down the way it had in Pohuai, he probably would have put Sokka off the boat the next day because the song was just _that_ annoying.

They sat around talking about nothing much. Sometimes squabbling, but mostly just warming their hands by the fire and chatting pleasantly. The afternoons were colder now and the nights were worse. You could tell they were really close to the icy plains that stretched around the North Pole. Sokka could feel that familiar chill in his bones. Snow was near.

They waited for Zuko's uncle.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

No one wanted to say it, but they were all wondering what had held up the old guy up, especially when the old guy had organised the time and the place. But as the afternoon wore on, Sokka could feel his mild paranoia upgrade to worry. When the sun started going down, Sokka voiced the idea of flying over the harbour just to check if the _Wani_ was there. Maybe they hadn't arrived yet ... currents and all that. The others latched on to this idea.

It was dark by the time they flew over the port. The _Wani_ was there. Zuko pointed it out to the others. They watched it getting closer as Aang flew Appa lower. Sokka couldn't help but notice that it looked empty. When he had escaped, there had been several guards milling around on deck. Now there was no one. No lights were on in the quarters. Sokka felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"That's strange," Zuko said, echoing his thoughts. He pointed at a flashing spark, blink-and-you-miss-it quick, around the prow of the ship.

"What do you think is happening?" Katara asked quietly. They all seemed to feel the need to whisper as Appa flew closer to the ship.

"I don't know," Sokka whispered. "Something's not right."

As if it was just to punctuate Sokka's point, the _Wani_ choose that moment to explode with a huge, deafening BOOM. A concussive wave of heat hit them and forced Appa back. The whooshing noise drowned out the bison's distressed cry as he turned away from the fire, banking hard to the left. Sokka and Katara held on to the saddle tightly. Aang gripped the reigns.

Zuko, always having to be different, yelled for his uncle and jumped over the side into the freezing water below them, heedless of what a long way down it was. Idiot!

Aang was trying to right Appa and fly him lower and closer, but the bison was making many protesting noises, evidently wanting to be as far away from explosions and flaming wreckage as possible. Sokka agreed with this sentiment, but it was going to make it extremely difficult to pick up their firebending, night-swimming idiot.

"I'll get him," Katara said with some determination.

Showing none of Appa's concern for safety or aversion to flaming wreckage, she also jumped over the side like an idiot. She was up and over the edge of the saddle before Sokka could stop her.

Damnit, now there were two idiots having an icy night swim in a harbour full of burning debris.

Aang extinguished some of the nearer flames with an airblast and patted Appa's flanks soothingly. It's okay to be scared of the big explosions, buddy."

Sokka thought this was a large understatement. Appa made a rumbling noise in response.

Just then, a huge amount of bubbles broke the surface and two familiar idiots emerged. It was evident that Katara had used her waterbending to bring Zuko to the surface. Not because he was in any danger of drowning, but because he had been a stubborn bastard who had been trying to swim deep enough to get to the sinking hull of the ship.

"Katara, let me go! We have to search the wreckage! My uncle! People could be trapped inside!" He was shouting at her, sounding panicked as he thrashed against the water.

Katara tried to focus his attention and reached out to him. She took his face between her hands. "Zuko! Look at me!" He stopped struggling at the sound of her voice and looked at her, eyes huge and distressed. "There's nobody in there. There's nobody in the water with us."

"Nobody?"

"I can't feel anyone else in the water. The ship was empty," she said reassuringly, still holding his face.

"No one was hurt?" Zuko asked, sounding distraught.

"No one was hurt."

"But you are both definitely going to get hypothermia if you don't get out of that icy water, you idiots!" Sokka shouted at them from Appa. "Hypothermia will really hurt!"

The dock had been decimated by the explosion, so the two idiots had to swim to the shoreline to get out of the water. _Serves them right_ , Sokka thought uncharitably. These two idiots would never understand how many brain explosions of worry they had just caused Sokka. They had casually jumped from really, really high into a harbour full of explosions, in arctic waters, at the start of winter. Now they were looking at Sokka like he was the weirdo for worrying about little things like safety and hypothermia.

Once they were on dry land Katara bent the water out of their clothes, but just being dry did nothing about the cold. The odd combination of the light from the full moon and the fire from the wreckage made his sister's lips look a horrid, bluish-purple. Her teeth were chattering like crazy. Sokka felt his stomach drop in concern. That was bad.

"Come here," Zuko said gruffly, and pulled her close into a hug.

She tucked herself against him and wrapped her arms around him in return. Sokka noted with alarm that even her fingertips had a blueish tinge. They needed to get her warm, and fast! Did these idiots think of that? No, they didn't. They had decided to just _brazenly snuggle_ in front of Aang and Sokka instead.

Oh no, were they going to start snuggling in front of them all the time now?

 _Frozen hell, this wasn't the time for snuggling!_ Sokka had just been about to voice this frustration when he noticed it. The colour was rapidly returning to his idiot sister's fingernails. Zuko was obviously warming her with his bending.

 _Well, that was certainly helpful_ , Sokka thought with a great deal of disgruntlement.

Katara gave a contented little sigh. Zuko asked her if she felt warmer and she nodded. It looked like she was trying to nestle even closer to her personal source of warmth. Sokka needed to put a stop to this brazen cuddle now that it had served the purpose of warming his idiot sister back up to her normal temperature. But even Sokka wasn't game enough to throw icy water over them at this junction.

He wasn't that much of a jerk.

-0-

Zuko felt completely lost. His heart was pounding and he felt like he couldn't catch his breath. His ship had exploded right in front of him. He hadn't realised when he left that night near Pohuai that it would be the last time he'd ever set foot on her. She'd been so old and rusty, but she'd served him well. She'd always taken him where he wanted to go. Now the _Wani_ (his ship! his home!) was resting at the bottom of a little unremarkable harbour in the far north of the Earth Kingdom.

His mind was whirling. The ship had been empty, so what had happened to his uncle and his crew? How would he find ever his uncle now? All of his plans for the future had involved that ship. All his plans for the future had sunk with her. What happened now? Where was he meant to go? What was he meant to do?

He pulled Katara closer. She was shivering and her skin felt as icy as the polar water. He couldn't believe she'd jumped in after him when she didn't even have any firebending to keep her warm. He didn't want Katara to get sick just because he'd been an idiot.

Concentrating on warming her up gave him something important to focus on. It was the only thing stopping him from losing it completely. Katara seemed like she was the only thing that was _solid_ and _real_ in that moment. He couldn't do anything about the literal flaming wreckage that had been his life. But Katara was shivering and her lips were blue. He could warm her up and make her feel better.

He held her tightly, just like he had next to the creek when she'd gotten upset and told him that she would miss him. It had taken him by surprise when she'd said that. No one had ever told him they'd miss him before, except Azula right after he'd found out he'd been banished, but that had been very sarcastic so it didn't count.

He warmed his body up so the heat would radiate into her skin. He traced his hands up her back and down her arms to move the heat around and get her blood circulating the way it should again. He glanced down at her face. The colour had returned to her lips, but her eyes were closed. She made a contented noise and squirmed even closer to him.

He was dimly aware of Sokka shouting at them. Something about getting inside, eating noodles and warming up. Since Sokka was the only person who seemed to have even a vague idea what should happen now, they all ended up following him to a nearby inn. Sokka got them a table. Noodles were ordered. Then Sokka went to talk to other people to see if he could find out any information.

Zuko felt numb and empty. Aang was talking at him, saying something optimistic about things being okay, which was a total lie. There was nothing okay about what had just happened. Katara put her arm around his shoulders.

Sokka came back a short time later. He'd found out that a great number of Fire Nation ships had been seen in the area recently. The locals thought it was odd, because the Fire Nation didn't often come this far north in the colder months and certainly not in large numbers. Yesterday, a huge ship had pulled into the town. Sokka said it sounded like the whole crew of the _Wani_ had been transferred to the new ship.

The innkeeper brought their noodles over on a tray. There was a fifth bowl on the tray that was upside down. Sokka started saying that he hadn't ordered anything else, but the innkeeper shushed him and muttered quietly, "The freesia hides treasures under her petals." Everyone made a rather confused face at this proclamation.

"Look under the bowl," the innkeeper whispered, before wandering away mysteriously.

Under the bowl was a coin purse full of gold coins, a note, and Katara's necklace. Katara made a small noise when she saw her necklace and reached out to grab it, quick as a cat. Sokka started surreptitiously counting the money. Aang took the note and then handed it to Zuko.

"It's for you," Aang said.

Zuko recognised his uncle's handwriting even in the low light. But the characters were messy and the sentences were short. It was very different to his uncle's usual style. Honestly, that man could write pages and pages about Pai Sho strategies. He never used one word when eighteen words would suffice. He frequently wrote in proverbs too, and that had always irritated Zuko in the past, but it was very disconcerting not to see a single weird analogy or drop of wisdom. The ink was smudged as if the note had been written and then rolled up in a great hurry. Zuko squinted to read it.

 _Zuko,_

 _Burn note after reading. I have been required for a short mission. Back soon. I will be unable to make appointment. Have left sum of money and the Water Tribe girl's necklace for your friends. STAY SAFE IN THE TOWN. I WILL COME AND FIND YOU._

The last sentence was written in huge characters for emphasis. There was no sign off, as if his uncle had been interrupted before he could finish the note properly. The others read the note, too. A silence descended over the table.

"Okay," Sokka said, "so we can all stay in the inn tonight. Tomorrow, we'll have to head up north and Zuko can stay here and…"

"What?" Zuko stood up, fists clenched. "You can't just dump me here!"

They weren't just going to ditch him again, surely? His ship just blew up. He'd have no way of finding them again if they cast him aside now. He still needed Aang to help him lift his banishment. He needed these idiots if he was ever to get back to the Fire Nation.

He wasn't staying here, no matter what his uncle's note said. There was _nothing_ for him here in this stupid town. He'd have _no one._ He wouldn't even have his uncle, because Uncle had vanished on a secret mission. He'd be _completely alone_ in this shithole of a town for fuck-knows how long if he stayed.

Zuko thought they were friends. They had _promised_ him they wouldn't do something like this to him again, but now Sokka was talking about just leaving him here?

"We aren't just dumping you! I'll give you money!" Sokka said, and he held out a pile of coins in his hand.

Sokka had annoyed him so many times in the past, but this really took the fucking cake. Zuko felt a wave of explosive anger crash through him as he looked at the gold glinting in Sokka's outstretched hand.

"No, _fuck you_!" Zuko smacked Sokka's hand away.

The coins flew out and landed all around them. Sokka looked back at him with hurt, shocked eyes.

"I don't want the fucking money," Zuko spat bitterly. Money wasn't going to fix this massive clusterfuck.

He turned on his heels and stomped away angrily. Katara got up behind him. She was following him and calling out his name and pleading for him to come back. Zuko knew he was a much faster runner than her. He took off. She always tried to cheer him up, but right now he didn't want that. He didn't want to have to listen to her trying to make it better when _she was going to leave him here, too!_

He knew how it worked with their group. Everyone always made fun of Sokka and his instincts, but they always did what he thought was best in the end. Sokka wanted to leave him here, and that was exactly what would happen.

So he ran away as fast as he could. He didn't pay any attention to where he was going. What would it even matter if he did? There wasn't anywhere for him to go. He ended up on the hillside overlooking the town. He could still see some of the wreckage from the _Wani_ burning on the harbour. The pinpricks of fire waved at him like little floating candles. In any other setting, Zuko loved floating candles. They were why the Fire Days Festival was his favourite. He liked the way the fountains and rivers looked when they were covered in little flames, reflecting on the water. He thought it was pretty.

Now that festival and floating candles had been _ruined forever_ for him.

Just like everything else!

It was like the spirits just loved mocking him.

They'd never held back when it came to tormenting him.

They had heaped _nothing but misery_ on Zuko since forever.

He heard Appa's rumble behind him. The bison must have been grazing on the hillside. Momo had been with him, but he came up to Zuko and started chirruping at him.

"I don't have any food for you, Momo! _I have nothing!_ " Zuko shouted dramatically at the lemur, suddenly realising how true that statement was.

He had nothing. No ship, no money, no Uncle, no plan, no home and no hope. He couldn't even give Momo any more snacks because he had no snacks. Momo gave Zuko an affronted look upon being both shouted at and not fed before he made a sad little noise and bounced away.

Appa had lifted his head curiously at the noise. The bison ambled over and nudged Zuko softly.

"Go away, Appa!" Zuko snapped, shirking away from the bison's shaggy head.

He was furious and he didn't think patting Appa would fix this situation. Appa nudged him again, unperturbed by Zuko shouting at him. Appa persisted in nuzzling him, even despite Zuko snapping at him rudely several times. After a while, Zuko relented. He reached up and stroked Appa's soft fur in return.

"I guess I can't get rid of you, can I?"

The bison rumbled in response.

"Appa, you're a genius!" Zuko said as an idea suddenly occurred to him. He climbed on to the Bison's saddle and hid himself under all the supplies.

Zuko wasn't easy to get rid of either.

-0-

Zuko had fallen into a deep sleep at some point. A wave of exhaustion had hit him hard. He was woken the next day when he felt a huge, heavy lump press against the other side of the supplies. There was the sound of gross, open-mouthed chewing. He recognised that sound.

Sokka!

He must have been lounging against the packs Zuko had been hiding under. The saddle was oddly silent. Normally there had been heaps of chatter. It was strange hearing them so quiet. Sokka tried a couple of times to make conversation, but Zuko couldn't hear any replies. He faintly heard Aang say something from the front of the bison, but it was muffled by the supplies. He shifted so he could hear what was going on a little clearer.

"Fine! I'm not talking to her either!" Sokka said loudly.

Zuko heard Katara sniff primly and disdainfully from somewhere near the front of the bison.

Then there was silence for a really long time. Zuko could feel the sun moving across the sky. Many hours went past. He wondered who was going to talk first. Both Sokka and Katara were quite stubborn. Occasionally, he heard Aang say something from the front of the bison.

"We don't want a repeat of that crazy spider-canyon, guys!" Aang admonished.

Spider-canyon? Zuko hadn't been there for that, so he had no idea what Aang was talking about.

"The monks said the best way to resolve a dispute is to listen and..."

Aang continued to treat the other two to a long sermon on the Air Nomad approach to friendship. This was ineffective at resolving whatever it was they were fighting about. Aang gave up on the sermon and tried other ways to cajole them into speaking to each other, though it was more like throwing rocks into a void.

"Guys, we can't just sit in silence all the way to the Northern Water Tribe."

Silence.

"This is the longest Sokka's gone without sarcasm! Come on, guys, you need to talk to each other."

More silence.

"Seriously, this will make our trip really long and boring."

Even more silence.

"Are we really just going to sit in silence?"

The silence suggested yes.

"This is stupid. You both can't just ... not talk."

The silence said otherwise.

"One of you is going to have to talk eventually."

The silence had become a thing of its own … and it was silent.

"It's been ages now!"

Silence, silence, silence.

"Can't you both just say sorry and be friends again?" Aang was starting to sound exasperated.

"No," Katara snapped suddenly, cracking first. "Not when Sokka is so keen to leave his friends behind!"

"For the last time, we couldn't have stayed any longer," Sokka responded. "If there are that many Fire Nation ships around, it means that something bad is going to happen. We need to warn the Northern Water Tribe. We don't have time for a long delay to wait for Zuko not to be pissed off. _He's always pissed off!"_

Zuko's attention was caught by the mention of his name. How could Sokka say that? He wasn't always pissed off. That wasn't true!

"We could have looked harder for him!" Katara snapped.

"Katara, we looked all last night! He obviously didn't want us to find him. You didn't see him in action at Pohuai, but the guy has mad ninja skills! Crazy ninja skills. You can't find a ninja if they don't want to be found."

"We didn't even get to say goodbye! Now what happens if we can't find him again?"

"Maybe he didn't want to do a big, soppy emotional goodbye thing," Sokka said. "Maybe it's easier this way. We left that goodbye note and money with the noodle guy!" There was a short silence before Sokka continued. "If he's smart, he'll wait in the town for his uncle and we can pick him up after Aang's learnt waterbending."

"I still think we could have brought him with us!" Katara huffed in response.

"He's not a pet lemur, Katara! You can't just keep him!" Sokka said, sounding angry. "The Northern Water Tribe would have _killed_ him, okay! That is why I knew we could never bring him with us. I am _not_ the bad guy here!"

There was a shocked silence. Zuko suddenly felt a sinking feeling. He realised rather abruptly that there was a huge flaw in his stowaway plan. He'd been so angry and sad. He had latched on to the first idea that came into his head without really thinking it through. He now realised, with some alarm, there was a very crucial detail that he had not considered.

"Look, I'll miss the guy too—" Sokka said suddenly, which surprised the fuck out of Zuko.

What? Sokka would miss him?

"—but we had to leave him behind. I don't want him to get killed. He would have been properly killed, too. The Northern Water Tribe would have killed him _for real,_ probably in a nasty way involving icebergs or polar wolves."

Oh, shit.

"I don't want to be killed by ice wolves!" Zuko exclaimed with a great deal of dismay as he sat up. Sokka gave a very unmanly squeal of total surprise and fright as Zuko emerged from behind him, like some cursed octopus-monster from a spirit tale.

"Zuko! You scared the shit out of me!" Sokka yelped, as he recovered from his shock. His eyes narrowed. "Wait, have you been here the whole time?"

"No, I just came in through the bison saddle door a moment ago," Zuko replied sarcastically.

"Appa has a saddle door?" Aang asked with great astonishment from up the front.

"No, Aang. I've actually been here the whole time! Obviously!"

Sokka looked like he was suffering from some kind of brain explosion. He made a series of incredibly frustrated noises and gestures in Zuko's direction. "Frozen hell, you're here! Why are you here? Your uncle wrote you one really clear instruction in _massive characters_ **.** Wait in the town! That was all you had to do!"

"I didn't want to wait in the fucking town!" Zuko snapped.

"Why, for the love of all the spirits _,_ are you completely incapable of reading bloody instructions!" Sokka moaned loudly to the sky as if he was beseeching Agni for patience. "That's it! I am tattooing the next set of instructions you get to the back of your hand! Maybe then you will actually _read_ them!" Sokka wailed as he grabbed Zuko by the shoulders and gave him a shake.

Just then, crazy icebergs started forming all around Appa. Huge ice spears were coming at them from all directions underneath the bison. One caught his ankle and caused him to spin out of control. Everyone had to hang on tightly to avoid being bounced out as Appa crashed into the freezing water. From behind the icebergs, a fleet of boats appeared, powered by waterbenders.

The Northern Water Tribe had found them.

-o-

Notes:

My lovelies readers. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it was a little more serious. Poor Zuko never gets an easy go of it. Enormous thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who takes the time to give me feedback. I do love hearing from you.

Giant, enormous lion-turtle-sized thank you to the wonderful Boogum, for her excellent beta-skills. You're a star!

So this was a very Sokka heavy chapter. I loved the Northern Air Temple episode and how much growth it gave Aang. It was lovely writing and I do think he was justified in being upset at how much the temple had changed. Sokka however, is much more progress focussed and we see his POV here.

There was this whole long scene that followed Zuko, Aang and Katara around the temple, and Zuko and Katara gained more appreciation for Air nomad culture and then they went gliding together in my first draft. But I cut it out because it took Aang to too much of a sad place, and this chapter already felt a little too serious in tone for me. I may publish it as a separate one-shot if there is interest.

So we kind of raced through the Northern Air Temple from Sokka's POV, because I wanted to have a go at writing around one of my pet peeves in post-ATLA-canon ( hereafter known as bryke's canon). There is this unresolved thing with Aang's attitude towards non-benders and it has big ramifications for Bryke's canon, as Aang will go on to create a very discriminatory society (Republic City was heavily influenced by Aang after all). I mean, I think it is a stretch, but I can see how the seeds are there in ATLA.

LOK and the comics contain many inferences that Aang didn't think as highly of non-benders, and that is why republic city is such a prejudiced place for non-benders. If the monks did send away all non-bending children to have a purely benders-only society, most of this attitude is really just Aang not re-examining his Air-nomad beliefs. He's not naturally an elitist person at all, and he does throw some air nomad beliefs under the bus (such as their attitude to nuclear families). I think this attitude would have been easy to alter if Aang had been encouraged to reflect on it.

I had Sokka think about how he would like to talk to Aang about his attitude about non-benders and refrains here, because it is not the right time. In my head canon, at some point Sokka and Aang would have this conversation and it would help Aang alter his attitude to non-benders and grow in understanding.

Zhao's figured out Zuko was the blue spirit, but can't prove it. He knows Zuko is wandering around with the Avatar and is trying to reunite with his Uncle. So he still takes his crew and blows up the ship. He would have made it very difficult for Iroh to refuse his offer to join the mission, without it attracting questions, because he wants to use Iroh as well as remove Iroh as a source of help and comfort to Zuko. He does this mostly to fuck with Zuko, and pretty much make it impossible for him to fulfil his mission.

Iroh had been in contact with Jeong Jeong. Jeong Jeong has been very reluctantly impressed by Zuko and would have contacted his old friend, saying " Calm your farm. Your nephew is fine. This is what went down and this is what I think." He probably would have expressed him self much more grumpily and with more dramatic phrasing. They would have disagreed through coded message about whether it is nobler to desert or not again. Iroh would have maintained that he is doing more good trying to limit the damage from within.

Then Zhao would have come on the scene and had all these crazy plans for the North. Iroh would have a duty as a Grand Lotus to try and prevent that kind of spirit-destroying, genocidal-attack thing from happening. He would be very concious that it was his time to put his money where his mouth is, so to speak, in regards to staying within the Fire Nation military structure to better at preventing tragedy.

Zhao thinks he strong armed Iroh into in, but Iroh would have really just made a horribly difficult decision in a very short time. I think he only planned to accompany Zhao for a little while, look for an opportunity to thwart him and then he would have returned to the town for Zuko. But the more time he spent with Zhao, and the more he uncovered about the extent of Zhao's plans, the harder leaving would have been.

So Iroh hits up his agent in the town, and thinks up a hasty solution. But lets be real, Zuko was never going to just idly stay in that town sitting on his hands and waiting endlessly for something to happen. He's such an active, determined person that sitting around and letting his chance at a future slip away would not have been possible for him. Also, he has become used to having friends around. He enjoys their company and feeling like he is cared for. This would have made the concept of just waiting, all on his own for an unspecified time period even more difficult for him.

Sokka and deciding to leave. Sokka knows that the Fire Nation is up to something and is going to attack the North and he feels compelled to warn them as quickly as possible. But he also would have felt guilty about making everyone leave. Sokka Katara and Aang would have looked for Zuko for ages during the night, to no avail. Sokka, having seen Zuko in ninja-action, knows that their chance of finding him if he doesn't want to be found are slim. He thinks Zuko was avoiding them.

He would think it was deliberate, because Zuko didn't want to do the big, emotional, goodbye. This is probably true. If Uncle had shown up in this chapter, that would have been difficult for everyone. So he thinks he's looking out for Zuko, in a low-key way by deciding to leave. Katara would have been furious with this decision, no matter how much logic he threw at her. But as Zuko accurately pointed out, the Gaang will as a general rule, go along with what Sokka thinks is best.

I think Zuko would reject the Gaang's attempts at making him feel better when he was feeling so lost and vulnerable, and would instead lash out angrily at them and seek solitude to better mope. This is especially true when they had just been talking about leaving him in the town, which is something that Zuko would see as a rejection. So he's pushing them away first, especially Katara who he has the strongest feelings for.

She would have been a very grounding and calming influence on him in the immediate aftermath of his ship exploding. He would have taken great comfort from her just being there, physically holding her and being useful to her. (Zuko often measures his worth on how much use he is to another person eg his obsession with accomplishing his mission, or how hard he takes it when he can't properly teach Aang).

That boy is so touch-starved and affection-starved that I think as soon as Katara green-lights something like hugs, he would be _all over that._ However, I feel like he would only be this comfortably physically affection with her, because she makes him feel like it is safe to do so (she's one of his safe people I guess.) I can't see him suddenly becoming more physically demonstrative with everyone. He'll still be awkward as all hell if Aang tries to hug him again. Give him time Aang. He'll get there.

Next chapter we will be in the Northern Water Tribe. There will be much ado about the Gaang bringing a firebender to the north. There will be drama and shenanigans!

Until then, lovely readers.


	9. The Northern Water Tribe

Aang hated being in prison.

This sucked!

He couldn't believe playing the Avatar card hadn't worked. It always worked!

Aang had declared loudly to the northern warriors that Zuko was his friend. "If you want to lock him up, you have to lock me up too!" he had said confidently. He had never expected that they would lock him up too.

He was the Avatar. He'd come to save them and bring balance to the world! He hadn't come to the Northern Water Tribe to play I Spy with his grumpiest friend in an ice prison.

They'd played a couple of rounds to pass the time, mostly because Aang had been so bored and insisted and eventually Zuko had capitulated. However, it didn't take too long to figure out why Zuko thought it would be a stupid game to play given their current situation.

"I spy with my little eye … something beginning with i," Aang would say.

"It's ice again, isn't it?" Zuko would guess.

And then they would repeat the cycle. There wasn't anything to spy but ice.

The ice walls were glacial and very, very thick. Aang had no idea how to waterbend it. He could only really do the water whip. Zuko had tried melting it, but it kept refreezing.

"I know how to get out of prison!" Aang declared, suddenly getting an idea.

He remember how Zuko had told them about how the Annoying Song was so annoying that he had been about to let Sokka go before everything happened at Pohuai. Aang took a deep breath to better magnify his voice.

" _Ding dang ding dang dong, this is my annoying song! Everybody sing along..."_

Aang started to sing as loudly as humanly possible.

"No! Aang, no! No, Aang! Not that!" Zuko slumped back against the wall. "Why me? Why me? Why does this shit always happen to me?" he said to the ceiling imploringly.

"Because you are a firebender in the Northern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation is probably going to make war on the Northern Water Tribe, and they are unhappy about that," Aang supplied.

"Aang, that was a rhetorical question. I wasn't actually asking!"

Aang felt a little put out, but he could see that Zuko was stressed about their current situation. "It's okay, Zuko. They'll probably let us out soon."

"I don't think they're just going to let me out. I think they're going to kill me! You heard Sokka! They're going to kill me with ice wolves!"

Aang could tell Zuko had been trying to pretend he wasn't scared when the warriors first threw them in, but they'd been in the icebox for a little while and exclamations like this were becoming more frequent.

"They aren't going to kill you. You're with me, you're my friend, and I'm the Avatar," Aang said, reassuringly.

"Playing the Avatar card didn't work, Aang!"

"It will eventually. The world needs me to learn waterbending and I'll just tell them I'm not going to do that if they kill you. I'm sure the Northern Water Tribe will understand."

Zuko ran his hands through his hair anxiously and did not look reassured. It had grown out a fair bit around the ponytail and there was enough for him to grab. "This is it," he started muttering. "This is how I die. I can't believe this is how I die! Eaten by ice wolves. My last act will be failing at I Spy—"

"You actually won every round of I Spy," Aang interjected.

"—the last song I ever hear will be the Annoying Song. My last meal will be salty sea slugs. Then ice wolves. Why ice wolves? Why not just fucking drown me? _Drowning is quicker, you sick hedgehog-fuckers!"_ he yelled at the walls, throwing a fire blast that dissipated off the unmelting ice.

Wow, Zuko was really freaking out.

"If it makes you feel better," Aang said, trying to sound comforting, "I don't think ice wolves are a thing. I think you misheard. Sokka actually said they'd kill you with an iceberg or polar wolves. So there's actually two separate options."

Zuko looked at him aghast.

"But they aren't going to kill you anyway," Aang added quickly, "so that's even better. I'm not going to let them."

The prince was still freaking out. It was like he didn't believe Aang could protect him.

"I'm kind of glad you're here, actually," Aang said, hoping to cheer him up.

Zuko paused in his freak-out and blinked at him twice, looking grumpy. "Really? You're glad I'm here _in prison_?" He pointed around to their current situation. "We are in prison, Aang! This isn't the time for being glad about anything!"

"I'm not glad about being in prison," Aang corrected. "I'm glad you came with us. You're one of my people. There aren't any Air Nomads left. I just have you and Katara and Sokka to be my home now, and I'm glad we're all here."

"People aren't homes, Aang." Zuko replied, baffled. At least he wasn't freaking out about ice wolves. That was an improvement.

"The Air Nomads thought that the people you chose to travel with were your home. That way you could be anywhere in the world and still feel at home if they were around. It didn't matter where Monk Gyatso and I went, we were always home because we had each other."

"Who's Monk Gyatso?"

"My guardian. I know you think Air Nomads don't understand about fathers, but I guess Monk Gyatso would have been like a father to me. He always took care of me." Aang leaned against the wall and breathed deeply a few times. "When we found his body, I went into the Avatar State," he said, feeling like a sour lemon had lodged in the back of his throat. He missed Monk Gyatso so much.

"Oh, Aang, I'm so sorry." Zuko moved to join him against the same wall, his warmth settling beside the younger boy. After a moment's hesitation, he patted Aang awkwardly on the shoulder.

"It's actually the only time I can remember going into the Avatar State," Aang admitted, steadying himself. He had brought up Monk Gyatso for a reason, and that reason hadn't been to make himself feel sad. There was something he wanted to explain.

"You normally can't remember?" Zuko asked.

"No, it all passes in this crazy, scary blur because I can't control it yet," Aang said, shuddering.

"It scares you? The Avatar State?" Zuko sounded concerned.

Aang nodded, unable to say he hated it.

It was like firebending. He couldn't control it and it could hurt people so much. It scared him every single time. It terrified him, to be honest. Losing control completely and feeling like other people were _in_ him was awful. Whenever it happened, he didn't want to be the Avatar at all. He just wanted to be a dumb, normal kid.

But the world needed the Avatar so much. He had been gone for a hundred years and now the world was terrible and it was all his fault. He had to be the Avatar and fix it. Nobody wanted to hear him say that he didn't want to be the Avatar if it meant he had to lose control and hurt people. He'd nearly hurt Katara and Sokka that day in the Southern Air Temple. But Katara had stopped it. She'd made the world safe again.

"Anyway, the one time I remember, Katara was able to snap me out of it," Aang said, trying to get the conversation back on track. "She grabbed my hand and told me that she and Sokka would be my family and we could travel together. It helped me stop from losing control completely."

He paused, searching for the right words to get across what he wanted. He didn't know how to say how much it meant to him, knowing that he didn't have to be all alone in the world.

"I thought that maybe if I could make people my home again, then I wouldn't feel so bad about everything that happened," Aang continued. "Sokka is going to call you an idiot forever about this, but I'm glad you came. You're one of my people, and I only have three people. I'm sure I can keep us all safe. "

Zuko had very quickly become one of Aang's people when he'd said they could be friends at Jeong Jeong's camp. Aang's spirit had been buoyed by the fact that he still could make friends with somebody from the Fire Nation, even in a war-ravaged world. Aang needed Zuko around. Zuko wanting to be his friend proved that there was better way forward, that peace was still possible.

Zuko looked at him thoughtfully. "After my ship blew up, I didn't want to be left waiting all alone in that stupid town. I didn't know where else to go if I'm not with you guys or Uncle. I know what it's like to feel lonely and want people around."

Aang looked at him curiously. He'd never really thought about Zuko feeling lonely.

Zuko cleared his throat a few times. "I guess I'm trying to say thanks for sticking with me. I'm glad you're here too."

-0-

The two foreigners had been thrown in together after the Avatar had expressed a willingness to share the fate of his firebending friend.

The Avatar had seemed very surprised to be thrown in prison, despite requesting it. It was as if he had been expecting special treatment purely because of his position as the chosen one who would bring balance back into the world. Pakku did not believe in special treatment. He had locked the Avatar up to teach him a lesson.

The Northern Water Tribe had never liked foreigners at the best of times and this wasn't the best of times. There had been several alarming reports from their scouts and traders about an increased Fire Nation Naval presence in the northern waters, rumours about a retaliation for the brutal murder of a prince, and whispers of an end to the armistice that had been in place for so long.

Pakku had received a message from Iroh some time ago about his missing nephew, but nothing since then. He had tried to send the Grand Lotus many missives when he first received the alarming reports. Perhaps Pakku had waited too long before reaching out to the Lotus. It was no longer possible for the White Lotus to send and receive messages from inside the Northern Water Tribe.

The Fire Nation boy matched the description of Iroh's nephew. Perhaps Iroh had sent the lad with a message for Pakku, since their regular channels of communication had been impacted.

Pakku had always known Iroh to be a skilled strategist. He assumed there was an elaborate plan in place so that the boy could get in, deliver his message, and get out. Pakku just needed a moment to talk to the boy alone to find out what the plan was. But to do that he had to figure out how to extricate Iroh's nephew from this mess.

Did Iroh have no idea what a mess he would make sending a firebender into the Northern Water Tribe?

It had set a real snowcat amongst the penguins.

Arnook had called a council meeting to decide the fate of the firebender. Pakku sat there, listening and trying to think up a plan on the fly and feeling cross. He had been sent a very bothersome situation and given no instructions on how to proceed.

Arnook asked the southerners to account for their conduct by bringing a firebender with them. The southern boy regaled them with what he promised would be a short account of their journey. This was a lie. It was, in fact, a very long account in which he made many sound effects. Pakku found all these noises annoying, but perhaps young people liked their tales told with a great deal of clowning about. Some of his antics made Princess Yue giggle in amusement.

The southern girl tried to interject many times while her older brother was speaking, but she was silenced by the village elders. Women were not permitted to speak in a council meeting unless they were called upon by Chief Arnook. She seemed very annoyed at being told this and had an exceptionally hard time silencing herself.

The southern boy suggested that the best solution would be to let him take the firebender back to the neutral port in the Earth Kingdom they had set out from on the Avatar's bison. Arnook thought for a moment before declining the request. The firebender had seen inside the Northern Water Tribe's walls. If he was a spy for his nation, he could provide them with crucial information at a time when there were so many troubling rumours about the increased presence of the Fire Nation Navy in their waters. Arnook would not risk it.

"He's not a spy or any kind of evil mastermind. He can barely read a simple instruction," the southern boy insisted, but was over-ruled.

Arnook cast about for other suggestions. Just letting the prince go was not an option.

Hahn, Arnook's unknowing chosen successor, spoke up in favour of immediate execution. The Northern Water Tribe had built a reputation for being the sort of place that would kill unwanted foreigners who dared venture into their waters, after all. This reputation had kept them safe. In eighty years, there had been hardly any visitors as a result.

"It seems like the simplest solution," he concluded with a shrug.

"NO! You can't!" the southern girl exclaimed with evident distress.

She had no concern for their customs and refused to be silenced. Such an uncouth display. She seemed very determined to have her say and to tell Chief Arnook what he could and could not do. Pakku threatened to remove her from the meeting if she could not silence herself.

Princess Yue saluted her father and waited for him to call upon her like a good, dutiful girl should. Arnook loved his daughter dearly and had often been accused of indulging her. She wanted to help serve her tribe better and had been sitting in on council meetings since she had reached womanhood. She stood up, greeted everybody in turn, even the two southern peasants, before she began speaking.

"I think what Katara of the Southern Tribe is trying to say is that instantly resorting to execution without understanding the situation completely would be foolish in the extreme." She gave her soon to be betrothed a rather scathing glance when she said this. "This firebender is Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. As our prisoner is a member of the Fire Nation royal family, this situation will require delicacy. Father, I would humbly suggest a more diplomatic approach."

Arnook nodded and gestured at her to continue.

"It is possible that we could use him as a hostage to negotiate. The Fire Lord is his father. What father wouldn't long for the safe delivery of their child? I know you would do much to ensure my safety if I were in peril." She bowed low to her father respectfully and he reached down and smiled gently at her, patting her hand and pulling her back up.

Pakku noticed the two southern children exchanged a look of consternation at Yue's conclusion, but neither of them made any vocal objections. Several other members of the inner circle did, though. It was not the way of the Northern Water Tribe to take prisoners, unless you counted the poor souls who ended their days in the frozen pit. Pakku was one of the only people old enough to remember when that horrid place had been used. Arnook, in a show of mercy, had Pakku seal it up. A quick death was kinder.

The North had always been community focused. Everybody had to contribute in some meaningful way. It was not customary to waste resources on someone just sitting around in a box, which was why banishment to the polar icefields had always been the accepted punishment for infractions. If Pakku could think of a way the boy could contribute, then it was possible Arnook could let him stay where he was. The strong room of the council hall could easily hold a firebender. An idea occurred to him.

"He can contribute!" the southern girl interjected again.

Pakku shushed her. He had been about to speak. It was his turn! He loathed to agree with the uppity little southern girl, but he did need to ensure that Yue's suggestion was upheld if he was going to have a chance at hearing Iroh's message. He knew how a firebender could be useful to them with war clouds gathering.

"I believe there is a meaningful way he can contribute, Chief Arnook," Pakku said gruffly, standing to his feet. "We have all heard the worrying rumours about the Fire Nation. If negotiations fail, it will lead to war. My men have no experience or practice in fighting firebenders. I humbly request that you allow me to use the boy for training purposes."

This request was granted. The matter was closed.

The southern girl then brought up the Avatar. She was shushed by Pakku. The southern boy then asked about the Avatar. Arnook listened intently. He had not been aware that Pakku had locked the Avatar in with the firebender. This displeased him. He asked for an explanation. Pakku offered that it had been mostly for his own amusement and to teach the Avatar a life lesson.

"You are meant to teach him waterbending, Master Pakku!" Arnook admonished. He commanded Pakku to let the Avatar go, apologise to him, and commence training him tomorrow. Having the Avatar in the Northern Water Tribe was an incredible honour. They would celebrate with a feast, not with imprisoning him.

Arnook shook his head at Pakku, then the meeting was adjourned.

Pakku had never had to convince anyone to leave prison before. He was not very good at it. The Avatar refused to leave Iroh's nephew and clearly didn't trust Pakku's assurances that the boy would be mostly unharmed. Pakku could not say completely unharmed, as he was going to use him for training practice. He was not a liar. His honesty caused some alarm in the boys.

Nothing could convince the Avatar to come upstairs, not even the promise of a feast in his honour. Pakku considered just lifting the Avatar bodily with his bending and escorting him upstairs, but decided against it. It would probably be considered rude. He had been chastised for rudeness to the Avatar only moments ago.

Eventually, Pakku left and had to find the two southerners and escort them down. Maybe they could convince their stubborn friend to leave prison. The girl hugged both the boys, but she held the firebender much tighter and for much longer than Pakku thought was appropriate.

The children made a little huddle on the floor only three feet away from Pakku. They seemed to think this gave their conversation some privacy. The two southern children explained what had happened in the council meeting. Then there was a great deal of swearing from the firebender. Such language!

The southern boy started ranting at the firebender that he _knew_ this would happen, and nobody had _listened._ Why couldn't the firebender ever listen to him, read instructions, or wait in a village? Everybody had _too many feelings_. Nobody ever followed his instincts, and his instincts were _always right._

Right now his instincts were saying that the firebender needed to help out with training the waterbenders as much as he could, because this Northern Water Tribe was very big on "contributing." The fact that Pakku thought he could contribute by fighting was one of the only reasons the tribe agreed to imprison him, not the _other option_.

"Shit," the firebender said with a gulp. "This is really bad, Sokka."

"It's going to be okay. You _love_ fighting. Now you can do it every day!" the southern boy said encouragingly. "It's not forever. Hopefully, Aang can pick up waterbending pretty quick, then we can all get out of here, _together._ " He'd lowered his voice to just a whisper, but Pakku could still hear.

The Avatar insisted he wasn't going to learn waterbending until they let the firebender go. The older three all disagreed, quite vocally. They seemed to realise the reality of the situation. There was no way the Northern Water Tribe would just let the firebender go. The southern boy said the best way forward was for the Avatar to learn waterbending as fast as he could. The Avatar began to falter when even the firebender insisted that the Avatar should go.

"Aang, refusing to learn doesn't help me and it makes no sense for us both to be locked up in here," the Firebender said sternly. "I'll be fine on my own," he added, but this was less stern. He actually sounded a little uncertain.

Pakku interjected that the firebender would indeed be fine. Finally, they were getting to the root of the Avatar's reluctance. Pakku assured them that the firebender was going to be given a bath, a hot meal, and some warm clothes to get him fighting fit. He would be treated well.

The Avatar was clearly wavering now. Pakku even offered that he could arrange some visitation if they still wished to see the prisoner during their stay and ensure he was being well treated. The southern children and the Avatar could see him but only if he was good. There was a veiled threat in his tone (he better behave himself or else!), but the Avatar didn't seem to pick up on it.

-0-

Zuko was, Agni help him _,_ actually following Sokka's instincts. He was cooperating. Why had this become his life?

Because he was an idiot, that's why.

Trying to sneak in to the Northern Water Tribe on the back of Appa would always be the stupidest thing he'd ever done.

He hoped.

It was hard to imagine circumstances where he could ever do anything stupider in the future.

If he had a future and they didn't execute him, that is.

He'd tried not to show it, but he had been so scared, especially after Aang left. He was an actual prisoner of war now, locked in the council hall strong room. Zuko had known, intellectually, that Sokka was right. Aang staying and refusing to learn would make the tribe angry. Rather than get Aang his own way, it would make Zuko's situation even trickier. Still, it had been really hard to watch them all leave, knowing that he was going to be locked in here.

This empty, icy room had felt like it was closing in on him. He'd tried to figure out how to firebend a hole in the wall so he could escape if everything went bad, but the ice was weird. It didn't melt properly. It kept refreezing. He was completely trapped.

He'd never felt farther from home.

He missed his uncle incredibly.

Shit like this hadn't happened when he had Uncle.

He thought about what Aang had said, about people being homes.

Maybe Uncle was his home?

He remembered how his uncle had stuck by him through everything. Three long years they had been at sea together. Zuko had been banished, but Uncle had chosen to go with him. He could have gone to Ember Island and enjoyed his retirement, but he'd wanted to come with Zuko.

Zuko had asked him why only once.

"You know that I've lost my son and I think of you as my own," Uncle had said. Zuko hadn't asked again.

Uncle saying that had made him feel weird. Lu Ten had been amazing. He'd been cheerful, charming, strong, kind, funny, smart, a master bender and an excellent drummer. Zuko could never fill his shoes. He couldn't replace him, and he knew he would only disappoint Uncle in the long run if Uncle was hoping for that.

Zuko knew he had taken Uncle for granted on the _Wani_. He just always assumed there would be good tea, lots of proverbs, Pai Sho, music nights and terrible jokes in his life. If Zuko were to have a person-home, it would be with his uncle.

That thought didn't help his current situation, because he had no idea where his uncle-home was. Some secret mission, the note had said. What the hell kind of secret mission needed his portly, retired, tea-loving, proverb-spouting, Pai Sho-obsessed uncle was anyone's guess.

Still, Zuko had known his uncle his whole life. That made thinking of him as a person-home easier. Aang thought Zuko was his person-home, though, and they'd only know each other for a few months. Half of the time they'd known each other they'd been enemies.

Zuko couldn't be an Uncle-figure to Aang and give him wisdom and tea and make him feel better.

How ridiculous.

Zuko didn't even have any wisdom or tea of his own right now.

It was only because Aang was really and truly alone in the world. He didn't have anyone else. He didn't even have an actual home. All the Air Temples were destroyed or full of people who smashed down the ancient murals and called it progress. Aang only had Sokka, Katara and now Zuko.

That made Zuko feel really sad for Aang.

He'd never really thought there was someone out there in the world more lost and alone than he had been in those three years aboard the _Wani_.

Some men came to escort him, _the dangerous firebender,_ to the bathhouse to get cleaned up. He'd been given a change of clothes more suitable to the Arctic climate. He'd asked for a comb to fix his phoenix-plume. The bigger guy had refused and sneered "who knows what you'll do with it," but without any of Sokka's warmth or humour or crazy ideas.

It riled Zuko, being denied such a simple thing without a reason, and he got stroppy. He was still shouting at the first guy when he felt his hair roughly grabbed from behind and heard a little _snick._ It had taken less than a second. The man behind Zuko had just grabbed his hair and sliced it off with the very sharp knife at his belt.

"There now, kid. Now you don't have to worry about brushing it. Easier to care for this way." The man actually sounded jolly, like he thought he'd done Zuko a favour.

Zuko made an enraged sound. He turned and shoved this man as hard as he could, swearing all kinds of insults at him. The fight was on. He was so furious. This oaf, this buffoon, this utter asshole, had just casually cut off his last link to his royal position, and he had no fucking idea! He hadn't even asked!

It was a haphazard, furious fight. Zuko was still getting used to walking on ice and was slipping everywhere, but he could honestly say he had never felt angrier in his life.

The fight finished as quickly as it had started when Master Pakku arrived. They all got encased in huge, separate blocks of ice, leaving just their heads free. A very unimpressed Pakku strode forward with a tiny old woman next to him and shouted at everyone for their behaviour.

"Save it for the training ground," he admonished his men, and dismissed them. Then he'd rounded on Zuko. "Any more misbehaviour like this, boy, and there will be dire consequences."

Zuko felt his blood run cold … and not just from being encased in the ice. He remembered Sokka's words:

"Be less ... how you normally are, okay? Don't fly off the handle or do the angry, grumpy thing. Just do what they ask and they'll treat you okay," Sokka had said.

Zuko had protested fiercely, asking just what did Sokka fucking mean by the angry, grumpy thing?

Sokka had pointed at his furious face, saying, "This _—_ exactly this _._ You need to do less of _this._ Look, they wanted to kill you, buddy. You like being alive, don't you? They won't kill you if you cooperate. Just, for once in your stupid life, can you listen to me on this?"

Pakku's reminder of the possibility of death by ice wolves was the only thing that put Zuko in a more cooperative mood. He was instructed to go with the little woman. Her name was Yugoda. She was their master healer. She was kind to him. She called him Zuko and not firebender or boy. Zuko hadn't been expecting that. He thought they'd all be like Master Pakku.

She healed his shoulder completely that night, as well as all the bruises he'd just gotten. She said she would need extra sessions to work on his ribs, because bones took longer. He would need some bed rest while they healed properly. Zuko made a face at her and said he wanted to fight. He wanted to kick that buffoon's arse.

"Zuko, I have four sons. You make _that face_ at me, I make you Arctic trout pot-roast. But you will not be getting your own way here," Yugoda admonished.

"But you can't just leave me in here for days," Zuko complained, and they both looked around the stark ice-cell.

"Yes, I can see how that would be a little boring for you. I'll see what I can do there. But you have three fractured ribs and you need to properly rest them."

"They don't hurt, though. Really, they feel fine. I've been wrestling with Sokka for ages now and they've been broken the whole time and it hasn't been bothering me."

This was the wrong thing to say. Yugoda was very unimpressed with this answer and the information that he had been fighting even with broken ribs. She left muttering about idiot teenage boys under her breath.

Zuko had thought she was really angry at him, but she'd come back about an hour later with lots of blankets to keep him warm, scrolls to read so he didn't get bored, and candles because she knew firebenders liked to meditate with candles. One of them even had some kind of flower in it that made it smell. She said the smell would help with healing. She helped him make the Water Tribe style bed and then covered it with even more furs and blankets, so it would be extra warm. She'd gone away again, but returned some time later with a clay pot full of artic trout pot-roast. Artic trout pot-roast was actually quite tasty.

Zuko felt himself warming to this Yugoda.

-0-

 _Pakku was such a grump,_ Yugoda thought to herself as she watched him rudely deny any combative waterbending instruction to Katara. He seemed to enjoy refusing the girl. Katara had been very despondent.

She was so very much like Kanna, even when she was sad. Yugoda had nearly done a double-take when she first saw Katara, thinking for a moment that her dear friend had come back after all this time.

Did Pakku see the resemblance? Was that why he was so hard on the girl? Losing Kanna had broken his heart. He had never really recovered. Never loved another woman afterwards. Something had changed in Pakku that day when he'd realised his beloved had fled their betrothal. He didn't understand how Kanna could leave him.

If he had asked, Yugoda had a pretty good idea why, but Pakku never asked.

Yugoda had been teaching the younger girls the healing basics and invited Katara to join them. It would be good for her to learn the basics, even if it would be humiliating for her to be in a class with much younger children. Then she had taken Katara home to give her a more in-depth lesson and copious amounts of tea and treats.

Yugoda had examined her healing work when she had first treated Zuko's shoulder before the feast last night. Katara obviously had an enormous amount of raw talent, but no formal training. She had made several errors. Though it didn't pain Zuko currently, it would not have healed right in the long run. It had taken Yugoda a long time to untangle everything and put it to right.

"I'll need an additional two sessions to heal him completely before you can use him as target practice," she had curtly informed Pakku during the feast. She'd then treated him to a lecture about the complexity of healing when he questioned the timeframe. They had agreed to speak to Zuko together this morning to hear Iroh's message.

Pakku opened the cell with his bending. Zuko was sitting on the bed with an arm around his legs. He'd been given some simple, unadorned Water Tribe clothes to wear to keep him warmer. He was running one hand through his hair pensively, testing the new length. He stood up when Pakku entered, jutting his chin out proudly. Yugoda could tell he was trying to pretend he wasn't afraid, but she saw through that.

He did not look like a master spy to Yugoda. She wondered why Pakku had instantly assumed he was. Had Zuko given Pakku any indication that this was the case? Had he said he had some kind of message from their Grand Lotus?

"Have you eaten the fruit and tasted the knowledge?" Pakku asked gruffly, without even a customary greeting.

Zuko paused and looked around the cell in confusion. "There's no fruit here," he said slowly.

"The lotus blooms for those who know her secrets," Pakku tried again, giving Zuko an expectant look.

"Riiiiight."

Pakku faltered a little and glanced at Yugoda.

"The white jade bush is a rare marvel," he tried again, a note of uncertainty creeping into his voice.

Zuko continued to look at them blankly.

"The jasmine blooms—"

"For fuck's sake! Why me? Seriously, why me? Why do I always get flowery questions from you old windbags?" Zuko exclaimed, sitting back down on the bed and gesturing at the ceiling as he spoke.

Yugoda gasped, shocked at such bad language. Zuko gave her an apologetic look. Pakku seemed rather taken aback at this outburst.

"You don't know anything?" Pakku asked harshly.

"Anything about what?" Zuko snapped, equally as cross and twice as confused.

"You're useless to me right now!" Pakku harrumphed. He made a furious face as he opened the wall to exit.

"Hey—I wasn't even trying to be useful!" Zuko called after him as they moved to leave.

"Well, you are going to learn to be useful really quickly when it comes to training my men!" Pakku growled, rounding on the boy menacingly.

Zuko looked alarmed and scooched backwards at the sudden movement.

"Stop scaring the poor lad, you old grump." Yugoda swatted Pakku's arm and started ushering him out. "Sorry about Pakku, dear. He's just had a disappointment."

Once outside, Pakku actually pouted. He was worse than her youngest grandson, honestly. He was rather beside himself that his assumption hadn't panned out. Yugoda could only marvel at his surprise. She could have told Pakku within one second of meeting Zuko that the boy was not a super spy. He was a scared kid who was a long way from home. But Pakku rarely asked for her opinion.

"He hasn't been sent by Iroh!" Pakku grumbled, pointing indignantly down the hallway at the cell, as if he thought Yugoda had not already figured this out. "He's just a sullen, idiot teenager!"

Yugoda blinked twice at him. This was also no surprise to her. All of her boys had been sullen, idiot teenagers at that age. At that age, her boys had existed solely to eat her food and drive her crazy and she had loved them fiercely anyway.

"He's a sullen, idiot teenager we need to keep as safe as we can," Yugoda reminded Pakku in a firm voice. "How could you ever explain it to Iroh if something should happen to the boy while in our care?"

"We need answers from Iroh, Yugoda, not another problem! We have no idea what is happening with the rest of the White Lotus. I fear there is some kind of blockade that is preventing any messages getting in or out. We have not had news for weeks now." Pakku sounded genuinely worried.

"Perhaps a message will come from Iroh when the traders return," she offered, trying to assuage his disappointment. It was still possible. Unlikely, but still possible.

Pakku huffed off to go train his men.

 _Those poor men will be in for a delightful morning,_ Yugoda thought.

She opened the wall and entered the cell. Zuko was still sitting on the bed, head in his hands. He looked very young and lost right then.

"Don't you worry, Zuko," Yugoda said warmly. "We are not all as grumpy as Master Pakku up here." She reached into her coat. "Now, I've saved you some treats from the feast last night. If you can hold completely still for me while I try and heal those ribs again, these are all yours."

Yugoda had raised four sons. She knew the power of a food bribe. She knew that there were two organs to appeal to when trying to get a sullen teenage boy to cooperate.

One of these was the stomach.

-0-

Yugoda had declared that he was fully healed. Zuko had to concede that she might have been onto something when she spoke about the importance of resting. Nothing was hurt or was even a little sore. He felt strong and healthy, better than he'd felt in ages.

Yugoda had given him lots of scrolls about the Northern Water Tribe to read while he was resting. She said it would do him good to understand more about their culture. Zuko could see the sense in this. He had no idea how this place _worked_ and a strong feeling most of what he was taught about the Water Tribes had been false.

Understanding these people would make surviving this situation easier. He couldn't just rely on Sokka and Katara for this. Zuko didn't like relying on people when he could do something for himself. He heard Jeong Jeong's words in his head: " _Always know the details before you make a plan._ " One of uncle's proverbs popped into his head too: _Koh the Face Stealer is in the details._

The details had been surprising. The Water Tribe emphasis on family, duty, honour and bravery was very similar to the Fire Nation. The reliance on the sea, the importance of the navy, as well as the way warriors were revered was also familiar.

The sexism was way out there _,_ though. It was so weird. Zuko knew these scrolls were old. Surely that attitude must have changed when they realised they needed every available fighter in the middle of a war. Katara was Water Tribe and she was really excited about learning to fight from a master, after all.

Another weird thing was the way the chief was meant to listen to his council when making decisions rather than just expecting everyone to obey him blindly and never ask any questions. His father would not have made a good chief. Arnook had listened to his daughter, Princess Yue. Sokka and Katara's dad was the chief of the South. Did he like to listen to other people? Would he have listened to Sokka? Zuko wondered what that would be like, being able to say things to your father without fear. He thought it would be nice.

He'd tried to rest. He was in an incredibly dreadful situation. He'd gone straight past rock bottom and through some hidden trapdoor and hit an even lower floor that he hadn't known existed. If he was going to be training against warriors every day, he'd need to be ready. He wasn't going to give up without a fight. Stay warm, eat all the vegetables, and get enough sleep had been the last advice his uncle had given him. He could do that.

He was the farthest he'd ever been from home and in a strange place that was making him doubt what he'd always known. "Never forget who you are" had been the last thing his mother had said to him. He would try to do that too.

He would begin training with the warriors tomorrow, which was a good thing. Being cooped up had set his teeth on edge, despite Yugoda's attempts to make it an non-awful as possible. The best firebending was fuelled by anger. Zuko felt a lot of rage at his current situation in particular and his life in general. It would be good to unleash all that.

They wanted to learn how to fight a firebender?

Zuko would give them a fight.

-0-

Katara never thought a mean old man's stubbornness would be the biggest obstacle to learning waterbending after she had travelled the full length of the world to come here. Yet here she was in the healing house and not the training ice fields.

Yugoda had taken most of the first afternoon to explain healing basics to her over tea after talking at length about Gran Gran. Apparently they had been friends before Gran Gran had run away from an arranged engagement to a waterbender here. Now that Katara had come to the Northern Water Tribe, she understood exactly why Gran Gran had baulked at the prospect of marrying one of them and had laced up her boots and run for it.

Yugoda explained various healing techniques in a warm and kind voice. Katara listened intently. Healing was much more complicated than Katara had originally assumed. She tried to comfort herself by saying that at least healing was very useful. As much as her heart was breaking about being denied combative waterbending, there were so many things about healing that she did not know.

Her healing so far had consisted of waving her water over an injury and willing it to _get better._ Yugoda tutted when she said this and made a face. The older woman praised Katara's rare talent, then gently informed her of how many errors she had made when healing Zuko's shoulder. Waving the water about and hoping for the best was nowhere near as effective as actually knowing what you were doing.

Katara insisted that she had done okay. It seemed better and Zuko said it didn't hurt.

"Absence of pain does not necessarily mean something is healed properly," Yugoda admonished. "Besides, boys that age often lie about how much things hurt them."

Katara got worried then. Yugoda reassured Katara that she had fixed him up. She could even heal bones, so his ribs were better too.

"Can I see him? Please?" Katara asked intently.

She knew Yugoda had been assigned to heal Zuko. Perhaps she could sneak her in. Yugoda said no and gently told Katara that it was not her decision. She said he seemed as well as could be expected under the circumstances.

Katara's stomach churned with worry whenever she thought about it. She knew they were lucky that Zuko was both royalty and Master Pakku had a use for him. Those two things, and Princess Yue's intervention, had saved him.

She had felt like she was going to explode at that horrible council meeting. It had been awful to be constantly silenced and spoken over while some random guy talked casually about killing her Zuko. She had wanted to slap that idiot with all the water in the canals.

Aang was at waterbending training. Sokka was training with the non-bending warriors, and Katara was walking around the healing house with Yugoda on her rounds. Yugoda had suggested that Katara could learn this way, by helping her on the job and dealing with different healing techniques as they came up. It was better than being in the little girl's class by a long shot.

The second morning was incredibly busy and it quickly became apparent why. Today was Zuko's first day of training with the warriors. All the waterbenders above a certain training level were going to have a bout with him in single combat. They were brought in, burned and injured, in a steady stream throughout the morning. Katara spent a great deal of her day healing burns caused by the boy she'd been travelling with. At least they were all superficial burns, which were quick and easy to fix.

Katara had to admit that Zuko was a very powerful bender to defeat so many opponents so quickly.

At first, she didn't know how to feel about it. It was strange to think that Zuko had used his bending to beat up all these men. When he was travelling with them, he'd used his bending to start camp fires, cook food for them and warm her up when she got cold. Katara had almost forgotten that he had this side to him as well.

 _They all do,_ whispered that dark and angry part of her that couldn't ever forgive the Fire Nation for taking her mother away. She pushed that away. Zuko was a firebender, but he wasn't like _them._

She knew him.

It hadn't been his choice either to be fighting all these men. It was training to get everyone war ready. He would be forced to fight every day until the warriors knew how to deal with real fire. It was a good thing that he was such a talented bender and such a skilled fighter in his own right. He could defend himself better that way. He wouldn't get as hurt.

She wondered what he thought of all this.

Since he'd joined them, she had never seen him deliberately use his bending to hurt people. Aside from his inelegant struggles with Sokka, he never seemed to even want to hurt anyone. He hadn't really wanted to hurt Sokka either. It had been his Zuko way of trying to teach him.

Katara had often giggled to herself as Zuko tried to teach her brother how to fight, mostly by insulting literally everything about Sokka's fighting style. He'd say things like, "You want to throw your opponent off-balance, not impersonate a platypus bear on cactus juice ... unless you are trying to confuse them so you can use their distraction to stab them in the eye with a pineapple..."

Zuko was brought in for healing in the afternoon. One of the older warriors had fired a big volley of sharp icicles at him. He had deep cuts all over his arms. Yugoda put him in one of the little rooms off to the side to avoid any tension with their other patients.

Katara rushed over to volunteer, abandoning her first patient to one of the other novice healers. She told Yugoda she knew how to do deep cuts now and wanted to practice. She actually just wanted to see him, but she had no idea how to explain that to the older woman. She wasn't sure if Yugoda would let her if she knew that was the real reason.

Yugoda gave her an evaluating look and told Katara to come and fetch her when she was finished so Yugoda could check her progress, then left her to it.

Katara opened the door and gasped audibly. She hadn't been able to get a proper glimpse of him when he'd been brought in. Now, she was struck by how different he looked from when she'd last seen him two days ago. He was sitting on the bed. His hair had been cut short all over. He was wearing plain clothes in the darker blue of the Northern Water Tribe.

She had a sudden, disconcerting realisation; the sort that happens when you have known someone for a long time and then see them in a different light and suddenly realise that they are actually really, really good looking. With shorter hair and dressed simply in the colours of her tribe, Zuko was ludicrously handsome. Had he always been this handsome? She couldn't believe she had only just realised it. Her heart started beating faster and her palms felt a little sweaty.

The little smile he did when he saw her—that little quirk of the corners of his mouth, quicker than a flash before dropping—that was still the same. She crossed the room in two quick paces and threw her arms around him and pulled him close. He didn't hug her back.

"Katara, I can't hug you now," he grumbled. "I'm bleeding everywhere. I'll get blood on you."

Katara didn't care about blood on her clothes. She was in the healer's tent after all. But she did care about making him feel better. She shouldn't be hugging him when he was still bleeding so much. That was probably unprofessional for a healer. She released him and moved to start healing his left arm first, as that had taken the majority of the icicles.

"You cut your hair?" she asked. It shouldn't have been her first question, not after everything that had happened, but it was. She couldn't stop staring at his hair. She wanted to run her fingers through it.

It looked like it would be soft.

" _They_ cut it," Zuko said angrily, staring at the floor. He didn't sound happy about it. He seemed sad, actually.

"It'll grow back."

She dropped her healing water back into the bowl and gave into the urge. She ran her hand through his hair gently. It _was_ soft. It was also a little uneven around where his ponytail used to be. He looked up, surprised and more than a little scandalised.

"If it's any consolation, it looks really good," she said, blushing furiously. She wasn't sure if he would appreciate her telling him how handsome shorter hair made him look, but she said it anyway.

He went quite red and turned his face away from her. "What are you doing here?" he asked, still not facing her. "I thought I was going to see Yugoda."

"I'm learning to heal properly. She'll come and check how I've done at the end." Katara tried to sound upbeat. She didn't want to complain about her situation when she knew Zuko's was much worse.

"Why are you learning to heal? I thought you wanted to learn how to fight?"

Zuko must have seen right through her upbeat tone. She couldn't deny it. She'd already told him how much she had been looking forward to learning waterbending that night when they'd been making dinner together.

"I'm not going to be learning to fight," she replied grumpily. "They don't let women do that up here."

He gaped at her. "What? They're not going to let you? But you've come all this way to learn waterbending!"

"I know!" she agreed loudly. "But it is against the rules. Pakku refused. Not even Aang playing the Avatar card could get him to teach me."

"Yeah, that Avatar Card is not working so well up here," Zuko said ruefully with a little shrug.

That was certainly an understatement. Katara thought it was ironic. Aang's Avatar card failure meant that Zuko had to fight every day while Katara was not allowed to fight at all.

"This place is _weird,_ " Zuko declared. "They really only teach the men and not the women?"

He looked like he was trying to get his head around it. Katara nodded. Zuko made a face. He seemed so genuinely confused, like he had been when Sokka started going on about cooking being a "girl job". Katara wondered if women were allowed to do everything men did in the Fire Nation. Were the men expected to help out around the house as well? Katara's mind boggled at the thought.

"But that's _stupid,_ " Zuko continued. "There's a war going on! What if they're attacked? Shouldn't they have everyone able to defend the city?"

"No. They say a woman's place is in the healing house, not the battlefield."

It was awful. Katara didn't know what else to say about it.

They were silent for a moment, both watching the glow of her healing water move over his arms. His left arm was healed, and she moved on to the right. She felt Zuko put his hand over her shoulder and give her a comforting squeeze.

"Do you want me to beat them up for you?" he offered, looking into her eyes very sincerely.

Katara knew it was a genuine offer, knew this was his awkward way of commiserating with her. She knew he meant it in a nice way, but Katara would have dearly loved to be able to learn how to beat them all up herself.

"You have already been beating them up all day," Katara sassed back at him grumpily, raising her eyebrow.

He was allowed to fight, after all. He was a boy.

"They wanted a fight, and I gave them a fight," Zuko said in a low voice. He smirked at her then, a mischievous sort of smirk. It was a dangerous, damn-the-consequences sort of smile.

It made her think _things_ about him, _things_ she knew she shouldn't be thinking about. It felt like her belly did a backflip. Her heart definitely skipped a beat.

"Did you ever consider that you could go easy on them for their first day?" she asked softly. They'd been run off their feet in the healing hut because of that damned cheeky smirk.

"What for?" Zuko asked abruptly, wrinkling his nose. "No one has ever gone easy on me."

 _True,_ Katara thought. It didn't seem like anybody ever had given Zuko a break, least of all himself. Katara finished off his right arm and bent the healing water away.

"They want me to fight them, so I will. Pakku said I had to do it every day until I'm no longer useful." He paused here and looked up at her, worry clear on his face. "What the fuck does _no longer useful_ mean?" he demanded suddenly.

"It's going to be okay," Katara said quickly, trying to reassure him.

He snorted in disbelief at that and his mood rapidly shifted. He didn't seem to like her saying everything was going to be okay. His mouth was set in a firm line now and he looked away from her. He was so moody. They could cut his hair and change his clothes, but they couldn't change that.

"Don't be angry at me. It's your own fault for following us. Why did you even come?" Katara scolded, perhaps a little harshly. Probably because she still felt her stomach clench whenever she thought of that horrible night in the port when the _Wani_ had exploded in front of them.

He'd run away from them. He'd been so upset and he hadn't let her help. She'd looked everywhere for him. They had to leave the next morning and she'd felt so awful, because she hadn't been able to say goodbye properly.

When he'd popped up behind Sokka, she'd felt a strange mix of emotions. She'd been mostly horrified, because Sokka had just said what fate likely lay in store for Zuko. She was ashamed to admit it to herself, but there had also been the smallest part that was joy too. She'd been so happy to see him, regardless of the circumstances.

"I'd never have been able to find you guys again from that shitty port town," he said softly, still not meeting her gaze. "Without bringing the Avatar back, I'm nothing."

"No. That's stupid!" she interjected immediately, cross that he could even say something like that about himself. How could he think so little of himself when she thought he was so wonderful?

She took his face in her hands, just like she had when they'd both been treading water in the freezing harbour. He didn't jerk away, but looked at her with such a vulnerable expression on his face.

"You're not nothing!" she said urgently, wanting so much for him to understand. "You're you. You're Zuko. You like fire flakes and hate salty things. You're so brave and so tough and you try to help people when there's trouble. You seem super grumpy on the outside, but on the inside you're actually a big softie who always over-feeds Momo and now that lemur is getting fat."

He was looking at her strangely with such an uncertain expression. She moved her hands to the base of his neck, stroking his skin softly. She'd noticed he always rubbed his neck when he was feeling nervous. Maybe it would comfort him and he'd know she meant every word.

She pressed her forehead against his and whispered, "You never give up. You're never nothing."

His arms came around her waist then and he pulled her close, burying his face in the crook of her neck, finally hugging her properly. "Thank you, Katara," he murmured into her collarbone.

Katara felt a little triumphant. She'd wanted a proper hug this whole time. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling the warmth of him in her arms. He was always so warm to the touch, even in winter. She rested her head against his temple and started running her hand idly through his soft, spiky hair.

Katara had no idea how long they stayed like that, just holding each other. It may have been a long time.

"Katara, how are you getting on in there?" Yugoda's voice interrupted a second before she opened the door and bustled in, giving them just enough time to jump apart and avoid suspicion.

"Well, you seem to be healing up quite nicely, patient," Katara said in the most ridiculously formal voice she had ever spoken with.

She wasn't sure why she did this or why she had called Zuko patient. She knew his name, for goodness' sake. She thought talking formally would make their close proximity seem less suspicious and more professional. Both Zuko and Yugoda gave her weird looks. Katara wanted to shrink into an embarrassed little ball.

Yugoda raised an eyebrow and wandered over to them to check over her healing work. "Much better than earlier, Katara, but you have missed three. These here, you only healed the surface, but not the deeper lacerations."

Zuko squirmed a bit awkwardly as Yugoda pointed out Katara's mistakes. "They feel fine, Yugoda. I think she did a good job."

"Quiet, _patient._ Your girlfriend needs to know how to do this properly."

They both protested. However, nothing either of them said seemed to really dissuade Yugoda from this assumption. The old woman just made _mmmmm hhhmmmmm_ noises (that sounded a little sarcastic) in response to Katara's spluttering protests.

Oh, spirits, this was embarrassing!

-0-

Notes:

My lovely, wonderful readers! I have loved your feedback from the last chapter, and I wanted to give a huge thanks to everyone who takes the time to review. It really means a lot to me to hear that you are enjoying this story.

Mega-super-massive thanks to the brilliant and gorgeous Boogum for the beta! She is the best!

Aang and his affections.

Zuko and Iroh and replacement goldfish.

Bye ponytail!

Pakku and Sexism

Yugoda, Katara and healing.

My drama llamas and their love.

So Aang. Lovely wonderful Aang is one of the friendliest and sweetest kids in animation. But more than that, I always got the impression that Aang needed people. He was a people person, a people pleaser. He always like and audience, and he often performed better for a crowd of people or when a crowd of people were relying on him. Aang places a great deal of value on how he is regarded and liked by the people around him, hence why he takes it so personally when that village in Avatar day doesn't like him. Aang is a extrovert who is rejuvenated by positive interactions with people.

Aang has such a huge heart and he opens it up to people so easily, which is something I love about him. But I had some lingering concerns because the Guru points out that Aang has replaced his affection for his entire people with his love of Katara in the show. I wanted to balance this, so Katara doesn't have that burden all on her own. I mean she still carries the most of it, but Aang has expanded his attachments to Sokka and Zuko too (Toph will also be included when she joins). These kids would have become just as much his family as Katara.

He explicitly tells Zuko that he has transferred his affections from his people to them, and Zuko is rightly concerned and saddened. (He is also concerned at saddened about how the Avatar state scares Aang – but I'll go further into that in an authors note for another chapter). As Yugoda says, just because something seems okay, doesn't mean it has healed properly.

This is the true tragedy of Kataang. By giving Aang what he seems to want, so that he _seems_ happy instead of giving him what he needs, plasters a band-aid over Aang's grief and never lets him process it. Conversations like this are good for Aang, even if they make him sad, and he gets to acknowledge his feelings such as missing Gyasto, and he gets to feel affirmation that he is loved from more people than just Katara.

Conversations like this are also good for Zuko, because they encourage him to think deeper about his own relationship with his Uncle. Zuko has a greater appreciation for his Uncle in my fic, perhaps because absence makes the heart grow fonder, and also because he realised how much his uncle cares for him and how much he needs Iroh. After his conversation with Aang, he can reflect on the positive aspects of his relationship with his Uncle and realises that his bond with his Uncle is unique. This is important because I think that Zuko is Iroh's replacement goldfish son.

Replacement goldfish is a trope:

TV tropes says:

 _Replacement Goldfish:_

 _It's a cliché (and_ _Truth in Television_ _) that when a parent finds that their child's goldfish or other beloved pet has died, they'll try to_ _replace it with a new one and pretend the original pet never died_ _. The Replacement Goldfish trope is when a character follows this line of thinking to fill in the emotional void of a loss they've suffered. In realistic settings, this could be an orphan taken in by a parent who has recently lost a child (to death, relocation, etc)_

 _In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Iroh begins treating his nephew Zuko like a son after his own child, Lu Ten, dies in battle. He seems to love Zuko for who he is, however, and doesn't project Lu Ten onto him. Since Zuko is also DESPERATELY in need of a (_ _good_ _) father figure, it all works out._

This is something Zuko and Iroh both acknowledge in canon. Iroh says that every since his son died, he sees Zuko as a son. Zuko tells Ozai that Iroh acts like his real father. In season 1, this aspect of their relationship does seem to make Zuko a little uncomfortable. I think this is because Zuko would feel pressure to live up to his cousin and doesn't think he can replace Lu Ten. He gets more comfortable with seeing Iroh as a father figure throughout the show, but I can see why he would be resistant to the idea of being a replacement goldfish and not being seen as his own person.

I just realised while typing this that Sokka, Zuko and Katara are Aang's replacement goldfish for the air nomads!

For those curious about Zuko's hair situation. He hasn't been shaving his head, so it has been growing out around the ponytail while he has been travelling with the Gaang. But now the ponytail is gone! Mwahaha! He's gone straight to season 2 hair.

Pakku and Sexism.

Okay, so Pakku bothered me. He was literally willing to not teach water-bending to Aang, the avatar, the last hope for peace and stability and balance in the world, because of his blatant raging sexism. Arnook backs this up!

Oi, sexist idiots – you need Aang to learn water-bending!

Then when he finally agrees to teach Katara, it is for incredibly personal reasons and it doesn't seem to impact on his wider views of the roles of women. No women are taught water-bending after Katara and the tribe still seems to be incredibly male-dominated. Yugoda points out how off it is that he is so incredibly mean to Katara when she looks exactly like his teenage girlfriend who broke his heart. Then I am expected to swallow that he will be a good match for Kanna, when poor Gran Gran literally ran as far away from him as she could.

Sorry, I needed more growth from the old grump before I will want him near precious Gran Gran.

So growth he is going to get!

I don't hate his character, but I want to help him grow. Pakku is so stodgy and old-fashioned. He doesn't think on his feet well when confronted with new and surprising challenges, hence his grumpiness at the Zuko situation. More surprising situations that push him out of his comfort zone will help him!

The next two chapters are set in the Northern Water Tribe and will feature all the characters we know. Yue, Hahn, Arnook, Pakku and Yugoda will be a little more fleshed out in my fic. We'll be spending a bit of time in the NWT while Katara and Aang learn water-bending.

Yugoda throws a lot of shade Pakku's direction, in her internal monologue (because that poor women was never allowed to express herself much is the sexist society of the NWT). I started out writing Yugoda as white lotus because I just wanted to balance out that male dominated secret society and it made much more sense that they would have women recruits as well. But the more I wrote her, the more I came to love her character. I am thinking Octavia Spencer level of wisdom, sass and awesomeness when I wrote her. That's why she says "mmmmm hhhmmmm" so often and so judgementally.

I also think that healing is much more complicated than just splashing glowing water on someone and hoping for the best. I think there would be specific moves and techniques and it would take a similar amount of time to master as combative water-bending. I also think Yugoda would be responsive to Katara's needs as a student and would realise that being taught amongst five-year-olds would be demeaning for her.

Zuko and Katara grow much closer in this chapter. Well, they've been growing closer every chapters, but they are very snuggly in this one. Katara is hyper-aware that she nearly lost him, and is much more affectionate as a result. I think that first council hall meeting would have been the hardest thing for that poor girl.

Araeph had a wonderful meta about the similarities between the Water-Tribe and the Fire nation, despite being opposites. Zuko realises this during the chapter, as he learns more about the Water-tribes. Their cultures are still very different, but there is a common ground there too. Finding common ground with someone on the opposite sides of a war was one of the things I loved about their relationship and why Zutara because such an OTP for me.

It's been 10 years and I'm still not over how lovely they were together.

So Zuko had a bit of an attractiveness upgrade, and Katara had a "damn, he's hot" moment in this chapter. The way Zuko smirked at Sokka from the cooler in the boiling rock episode is what I was picturing here. Katara was such a dork around Jet when she had a crush on him, but I think she would be a little different with Zuko, mostly because they have an established friendship and she knows him well by the time she realises she is really attracted to him.

She offers him affirmation for who he is as a person, rather than in reference to his skills, abilities or position. She's been noticing all these little things about him, and she likes him for his personality. At a time when Zuko was feeling lost and unsure of who he was, this moment with Katara would have been such a gift.

Next chapter we will see Sokka and Yue do an activity together, Sokka will learn that Zuko has always thought he was bisexual and Katara will refuse to take this sexist nonsense lying down.

Until then my lovelies.


	10. Lessons

Lessons

-0-

Sokka wanted Yue to be his girlfriend so badly.

He had never seen a girl more beautiful. He knew he was being a moon-eyed idiot, but he could not stop talking about her. He'd been so struck by her in the council meeting when she'd gotten up and spoken for Zuko and had been all clever and political and shit. Then he'd got to sit next to her at the feast and she'd been all sweet and laughed at his jokes and smiled at him.

She always laughed at his jokes.

He wanted to marry her for this alone.

They should probably go on a few dates first, though.

Aang had been very encouraging and hadn't laughed at Sokka for his moon eyes. He had tried to give Sokka advice. He suggested Sokka should _play it cool_.

"Be aloof," Aang had said.

Aloof?

Was Aang crazy?

Who could be cool when Princess Yue was so hot?

Who could be aloof around the perfection that was Princess Yue?

Who had given Aang such stupid advice?

Katara laughed a great deal when he voiced these thoughts and gently teased him about his huge crush. He was glad he could make his sister laugh. He was making everyone laugh lately. She'd been very grouchy recently, but had come back from the healing house in a much better mood yesterday. She told them she'd seen Zuko. This had cheered her up immensely.

These kind of flagrant displays of feelings used to worry Sokka so much. Now he had someone to make moon eyes at, he totally got it. Frozen hell, he realised now: Zuko was like Katara's version of Yue!

When Katara was in a good mood, she was less likely to do something crazy. Sokka had felt like she'd been teetering on the verge of dangerous-Katara mode the whole time they had been in the Northern Water Tribe, and he had been urging her not to do anything ridiculous. Sokka knew all the proverbs. Having the moon-eyes for someone was meant to make you crazy. But seeing Zuko had actually made Katara less crazy, and that was a blessing.

He wondered if Zuko would have any love advice for him.

No, probably not. Zuko obviously had _no idea_ what was going on in that area at all. Sokka may have even been his first kiss.

Sokka could ask him today. Pakku had said he could visit him this afternoon. Sokka knew he got the first visit, because he was the oldest and a boy, and boys always got to go first in the Northern Water Tribe. He knew this was unfair. He knew this would incense Katara. But he didn't care.

Yue was coming with him.

They were going to have a date.

Granted, Zuko would also be there for this date.

Whatever. He and Yue were doing an activity together.

That activity was going to be interrogating his friend, but that was still an activity. It was still progress on Operation: I Want Yue to Be My Girlfriend.

Yue had overheard Pakku and had rushed over. She wanted to meet Zuko properly and talk royalty to royalty. She had been reading the reports and rumours and she wanted to clarify some things about the Fire Nation. Who better to ask than the prince of the Fire Nation? She had admitted she was a little nervous to talk to firebender and wanted Sokka there. She had then said some more really intelligent sounding things, and Sokka was trying to listen. He was trying to multi-task, but just staring at her beautiful, beautiful face while she spoke took up all his attention.

He met her after training and they wandered around the city for a while, taking the long way to the council building. He made her laugh a few more times. He was so distracted by her laughing that he nearly fell in a canal again but managed to save himself just in time. They descended the many flights down to Zuko's room. Sokka had to ask a guard to open it up for them.

Zuko was sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall and _reading_ of all things? He looked up at the sound of the ice wall moving. He looked different. Had he changed his hair? Whatever. They nodded at each other in greeting. They didn't do soppy hugs. They were both manly men, after all.

"You're reading?" Sokka asked, stepping through the door. The place looked cosier than last time. Someone had brought Zuko heaps of blankets. Was that a scented candle? What the hell?

"Yes," Zuko replied, still not getting up.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd enjoy reading. Your track record with instructions is not so great."

It was a cheap shot, Sokka knew, but he couldn't resist. He hadn't seen Zuko for three days, so he had three days of material stored up.

"Screw you, Sokka! I can read!" Zuko put the scroll to the side and made a grumpy face at him.

"What are you reading?"

"History of the North. Yugoda gave it to me so I wouldn't get bored."

There was a delicate little cough from outside the door. Yue! She had said it was customary for a woman to wait to be introduced before she came into the room. Shit. Sokka had left her waiting just so he could take some cheap shots at Zuko.

"Zuko, I have to introduce you to Princess Yue!" Sokka said suddenly.

"What? Now?" Zuko replied, looking startled, but Sokka had already gone to the door and taken Yue by her beautiful, delicate hand and escorted her into the room.

"Zuko, this is Princess Yue. Princess Yue, this is Zuko," Sokka said, hoping that was how a royal introduction was meant to go. He wasn't sure of the etiquette. He was sure Yue would correct him if he made a mistake. She was so smart.

Zuko stood up and bowed to her Fire Nation style. Yue bowed deeply, as was customary for women of the North. Should Sokka bow too? He did just to be on the safe side.

"Yue had a couple of questions about the Fire Nation she wanted to ask you," Sokka said, then gave Zuko a look. This look said _don't screw this up for me!_

"Sure. Er … did you want to take a seat, Princess Yue?" Zuko asked, but the only place to sit was the bed.

Yue took him up on his offer and perched primly on the edge of the bed. This left Zuko standing awkwardly next to Sokka, facing her.

"We have received news from one of our scouts who spotted a Fire Nation armada made up of very large ships just outside of our territorial waters," Yue began. "He estimates there were well over seventy ships. Who do you think would command such a force?"

"Probably Admiral Zhao. He's the admiral of the Western Fleet, and that's the largest."

Hey! Sokka had known the answer to that one.

"Were the ships heading this way?" Zuko asked.

"No, the report says they were holding position and waiting," Yue replied.

Zuko inhaled sharply through his nose. That was bad. He only did that when Sokka threw water all over him. Sokka asked him what it meant if the ships were just waiting.

"It's not good. It means they're waiting for reinforcements. They must be relying on ships from the Southern Fleet to bolster numbers."

"Why would they need to bolster numbers?" Yue asked, alarmed.

"It almost sounds like they're preparing an invasion fleet if there's that many imperial cruisers. But that doesn't make sense," Zuko said, sounding conflicted. "To get that many ships here in winter is weird. It would have to take at least two months for those ships to get to these waters, but if the fleet are waiting now, it means they expect them. Orders would have gone out at least two months ago. This must have been planned when Aang first popped back up again. Everyone knows he has to come north to learn waterbending ..."

Zuko looked like he was working out a tricky puzzle. "At the abbey, Bato thought they would use me to justify war with the North, but that doesn't fit the timeframe. This isn't about me, Sokka. It can't be. This was planned long before I ever saved you."

"He saved you?" Yue said, turning to Sokka curiously.

Zuko got the most wicked, cheeky look on his face that Sokka had ever seen. "Yeah, we kissed too," that complete jerkface said in a totally deadpan tone of voice. Then he smirked at Sokka like he was feeling exceptionally amused with himself.

That asshole!

Sokka was going to **kill him** for real!

Yue looked scandalised. Her cheeks went pink. "You've kissed a boy?" she spluttered at Sokka.

"It was not a kiss! It was just a life-saving technique that they use in the Fire Nation after people have drowned!" he corrected her, trying to make it sound as normal and non-perverted as possible. Then he lunged at Zuko. "You bastard, why are you telling everyone that we kissed!"

His rage must have given him extra fighting abilities because he briefly got Zuko in a headlock for once. Inelegant struggling ensued.

"Because you did it to me _all the fucking time_ just to annoy me! Do you know how long I have been waiting to get my own back about that, you jerk!" Zuko shouted, extricating himself from the headlock.

Yue made a shocked little noise, but whether this was in response to the swearing, the wrestling or the kissing was anyone's guess.

Zuko immediately dropped his fighting stance and apologised for swearing in front of Yue. Sokka glared total daggers at the other boy, but dropped his stance too. Yue was still making an aghast face at them, so she obviously hadn't been shocked by the swearing.

"Princess Yue, let me explain," Zuko said. "Sokka had drowned in this crazy storm. I pulled him out of the water. In the Fire Nation we breathe the air back into people who have drowned. Sometimes they come back to life. It's a technique that is just _called_ the kiss of life. It's not an actual kiss. Anyway, Sokka had drowned and I tried that on him and it worked. It wasn't anything … sexual. I wouldn't kiss Sokka. Gross." Zuko gave a slight shudder as he glanced at Sokka, as if the idea of making out with Sokka was disgusting.

Oi, Sokka was very kissable!

Yue stood up and took two paces across the room to come and stand next to Sokka. She looked into his eyes. She had such pretty eyes. She was looking concerned now. "Oh, Sokka! You nearly died. You must have been so frightened. You are so brave."

"Yeah, I am," Sokka said, trying to sound manly and nonchalant about near death experiences.

"I am so glad you didn't drown," Yue said, and took his hand.

Frozen hell, now she was just _looking_ at him.

They were holding hands and she was _looking_ at him.

Were they about to kiss?

Sokka hoped so.

Frozen hell. It was happening!

He started to lean in.

A loud and awkward cough echoed through the room, spoiling the moment.

"If you guys didn't have any other questions for me, you could go do _that_ somewhere else," Zuko suggested very awkwardly, pointing between them.

Yue's hand left Sokka's and she turned back to Zuko. She still had another question. Boo.

"Do you think the Fire Nation would break the armistice and invade just to get the Avatar?" She asked directly.

"I can't say for sure. Zhao wants Aang, but he wouldn't go against my father's orders," Zuko started to say.

"'Cause he's so far up your dad's bunghole?" Sokka interrupted. He knew how much that phrase annoyed Zuko.

"Why did you have to say it like that?" Zuko snapped at him. "Why?"

Yue asked him to continue with what he was saying, but the bunghole comment had made Zuko lose his trail of thought and it took him a while to find it again.

"Anyway, as I was saying, my father's never really expressed an interest in conquering the Northern Water Tribe. He's much more interested in conquering more of the Earth Kingdom. It would be totally crazy to invade the Northern Water tribe in the middle of winter when the sun is at its weakest and the days are the shortest. Our casualties would be significant.

"It's possible that all the ships could just be a display of strength to scare you into giving Aang up and preventing him from mastering waterbending. Or they may be waiting for Aang to leave. He'll have to leave eventually. But I wouldn't rule out invasion either. Zhao is glory hungry and vicious. He won't worry about extra Fire Nation casualties as long as he gets a nice accolade out of it," Zuko concluded.

Huh? That was a surprisingly well-thought-out and thorough answer. Zuko could think strategically? Who knew? Shame he hadn't used this skill before he decided to stowaway up to the Northern Water Tribe with them and cause all this drama.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Prince Zuko." Yue bowed towards him. "Sokka will you walk me out?" she asked sweetly when she stood back up.

As if she needed to ask.

She knocked on the door and they were let out. After they had walked past the guard and had started climbing the stairs, she reached down and held his hand. "Sokka, you have been so brave. It sounds like you have had an amazing adventure to get here."

Sokka agreed that they had some crazy times on the road. He could tell her some stories. Yue expressed an actual, genuine interest in hearing about his travels. Sokka said he'd love to tell Yue about the rest of it properly. Maybe they could do that as an activity together tomorrow night? Yue agreed that it sounded like fun. She'd never spoken to someone who had seen so much of the world.

Nobody else was on the stairs and Yue took the moment to give him a sweet little kiss on his cheek. She lingered close to him for a moment. "Thank you for coming with me," she said softly, before turning to go. "I can find my own way from here."

Sokka stared at her beautiful, retreating backside in a daze, unable to think coherently.

Frozen hell! She'd kissed him!

She'd agreed to go on another date with him.

This was the best day of Sokka's life.

He had to go and gloat.

He got some snow, made a snowball, then went back down the stairs and got the grumpy looking guard to open the door again. He entered, saying "sneak attack" and threw the snowball at Zuko. Zuko was pissed off at being hit in the face with a surprise snowball.

"How many times, Sokka?" he grumbled. "It is not a sneak attack if you yell out _Sneak Attack_ like that first!"

"I'm still cross at you for bringing up the kiss thing, just so you know," Sokka said, eager to get his gloat on.

"Can you blame me? I saw a chance and I took it. You would have done the same to me," Zuko replied.

True. Sokka couldn't deny that.

"Yeah, well, it backfired. She just gave me an I'm-so-glad-you-didn't-drown-at-sea kiss on the cheek! We're going to have a real date tomorrow and I'm never washing this cheek again."

Zuko lifted his good eyebrow. "I think you should wash your face before your date," he said dryly.

Sokka gaped at him, trying to think of a response quickly.

"See, this is exactly why I make comments about your hygiene," Zuko got in before Sokka could think of a witty comeback.

Frozen hell, it was like Yue's kiss had kissed all the sarcasm out of him. There was nothing else for it but to try and get Zuko in a headlock again. If the cheeky bastard wasn't going to feel the sting of Sokka's wit, he was going to feel the amazing strength of Sokka's newfound fighting skills.

These fighting skills turned out to be short-lived. Sokka was very distracted and ended up flat on his arse extremely quickly.

Zuko leaned over him, shaking his head. "Why are you so much worse at this than usual? You're fighting like a drunken mooselion."

"I'm just a little distracted," Sokka answered truthfully.

"Is it because Yue kissed you?" Zuko asked, helping Sokka up.

"She kissed me," Sokka echoed happily.

"Aww, Sokka's in love," Zuko said in a teasing tone.

"Yeah."

Sokka didn't mind being teased about loving his future wife. He started daydreaming about Yue.

Zuko punched him in the arm lightly. "Snap out of it, asshole. We need you to be the plan guy and figure out how we all get out of here."

"Do you think Yue would want to come with us?" Sokka asked, feeling a little dazed. She could come on Appa and have adventures with them. He could show her the world. She seemed so interested in hearing about it.

"Fucking hell," Zuko muttered in response, sounding amused and aghast at the same time. He shook his head again. "You know, now you've got a girlfriend of your own, you might need to stop going on about Katara's boyfriends."

Sokka looked at him curiously. Not take the piss out of Katara's boyfriends? But then he couldn't take the piss out of Zuko. Why would he give up one of his favourite hobbies?

"You went on about Jet so much I thought you were obsessed with him and had like this antagonist crush on him," Zuko continued cheekily.

Why did he have to bring up Jet when he knew Sokka was busy feeling happy about Yue and his sarcasm engine was broken by her kiss?

That bastard!

"Why would you think I had a crush on Jet?" Sokka asked, a little perplexed. He hated Jet. Jet was one of the worst people he had ever met.

"Well, you know. I just assumed you were a bit bisexual and had some kind of weird sexual tension with him," Zuko confessed with a shrug.

Bisexual? What was a bisexual? Had Zuko just really insulted him?

Zuko actually looked surprised when asked what a bisexual was. "You know, a person who likes boys and girls ... _likes_ likes ... in the romantic way," he said slowly, looking at him like he thought Sokka was the weird one.

"You can't like boys if you are a boy!" Sokka spluttered. He knew it happened. He had always been taught it wasn't right.

What on earth went on in the Fire Nation? They just let two boys be together? Like boyfriend and girlfriend? And Zuko was acting like he thought this was normal? Did they let two girls be girlfriends? If there were two girls, then who would do the _boy bit_ when they were together? His natural curiosity rose to the surface and he asked Zuko.

"I don't know, buddy. You really need to ask a lesbian," Zuko said, sounding like he thought Sokka was an idiot. "I just figure they sort out some arrangement between themselves."

Sokka wasn't an idiot. He just didn't know anything about what Zuko was talking about. He hated not knowing things. If Zuko was going to act like he was stupid, then he would just find a lesbian to teach him.

"Fine! I will. What's a lesbian and where would I find one?"

"Fucking hell," Zuko said by way of answering, rubbing his hands through his hair. He sighed and looked at the ceiling and asked "why me?" under his breath before he turned back to Sokka with a determined look. "Okay, sit down, Sokka. Let's do this."

"This" meant a long, supremely awkward conversation between a flabbergasted and scandalised Sokka and an increasingly frustrated and awkward Zuko. Sokka was aware that he was just making indignant noises and staring at Zuko, but this conversation was wrinkling his brain! Sokka had a lot of questions. Zuko answered lots, but some questions made him say, "Sokka, you can't ask people _that!"_ and occasionally, "How the fuck would I know _that?"_

Zuko was very adamant that there wasn't anything wrong with being gay and had got a bit cross with Sokka's attitude at the start of the disaster conversation. Apparently, Zuko's favourite teacher, the guy who taught him swordsmanship, was gay. It didn't make Piandao any less manly or less of a warrior just because he loved another man. Sokka asked an inappropriate question about this Piandao.

"No. I never asked him that because it was none of my fucking business!" Zuko shouted in response. Then he changed his tone and spoke seriously. He said he was just happy Piandao _had_ someone. He didn't see anything wrong with a little more love in the world.

Sokka couldn't argue with that. Love was great. He loved Yue. She had made his days so much better. He knew the Water Tribes would think it was wrong, but Sokka couldn't help but wonder why. Zuko was right. What was wrong about a little more love in the world? Nothing as far as Sokka could tell. He could get his head around it.

Only one thing really pissed him off about this whole conversation. They had established early on that they were both heterosexual (a word Sokka had only just learned!) even though Zuko had been under the impression that Sokka _wasn't_ for most of their travels. This was because he had assumed something absolutely terrible, horrible and disgusting about Sokka.

"I can't believe you really thought I was attracted to Jet! I'd have way better taste in guys than to like that asshole!" he grumbled and lightly punched Zuko in the arm. If Sokka was going to be attracted to a guy, he hoped he would be too smart to be sucked in by that psychotic bastard. Jet was the worst. Even Zuko would make a better boyfriend than Jet.

"Er, yes. You just always talked about how attractive he was. You mentioned it constantly, every day we were in the forest. You would start conversations with me by saying how Jet was one of the most good-looking guys in the entire Earth Kingdom. I just assumed you were really into him."

"Well, I'm not! I'm only into Yue!" Sokka yelled.

"Okay, if you say so," Zuko said with a smirk.

Sokka knew what the jerk was implying but he couldn't think up a witty response for the life of him. He ended up making a series of frustrated noises and gestures in Zuko's direction.

"I'm going to go and think of something really terrible to say and then come back and say it to your face," Sokka declared angrily after a few moments.

"Okay. See you _later!"_ Zuko replied.

"You will see me _soon!"_ Sokka shot back.

-0-

The warriors were ... sloppy.

They clearly hadn't been preparing to be attacked. They probably thought the ice walls would keep them safe forever.

Zuko knew that safety would vanish pretty quickly if Fire Nation ships appeared on the horizon. Pakku needed these men ready before that happened. The benders were divided into groups named after arctic animals. Zuko assumed there was some kind of hierarchy or structure, but didn't really bother trying to figure it out. He just wanted to fight everyone and everything.

At first it had been easy. It was all one-on-one bouts. Firebending was aggressive—all offensive tactics and trying to overwhelm your opponent quickly. This worked great in the mornings, but it was exhausting to fight that way for an entire day. He always felt himself flagging in the afternoons.

The next day Pakku had been (very begrudgingly) impressed with Zuko. Zuko finally understood what Pakku wanted him to do to _be useful._ Pakku wanted him to put the fear of the Fire Nation into his troops. Zuko was good at fighting. He could do that.

Pakku told Zuko that he could have visitors. Zuko had been excited to see all his friends, especially Katara. Pakku crushed that excitement quickly. He informed Zuko that Katara would not be permitted to see him, because she was an un-engaged girl near marrying age. It would not be appropriate.

What the fuck?

Was Pakku implying what Zuko thought he was implying?

What a hedgehog fucker!

Sure, it was great to see Sokka when Sokka had brought Princess Yue down. But then it got weird and awkward when Zuko thought they were going to start kissing in front of him. He didn't want to see _that._ Then it had got really weird and he'd had to have the most uncomfortable conversation of his entire life with Sokka. If Pakku was worried about inappropriate things happening in his cell, he'd been worried about the wrong person.

Sokka was inappropriateness on legs!

Zuko had been half-worried he was going to beset the nearest lesbian with horribly inappropriate questions and get slapped in the face.

The next day, he'd gone with Orca Group to the ice field near the front walls with the master who wore the bone earring. When they got back, they had heard that there had been a huge bending fight between Pakku and Katara in the central courtyard and Pakku had agreed to teach her waterbending. Zuko hadn't known it was possible to feel this happy about something good happening to another person. He thought maybe they'd get to see each other in training since she wasn't allowed to visit.

This was a faint hope. Katara was put in Seal Class with Aang. Seal Class was a lower level class, and Pakku only had Zuko fight the highly-trained benders. She wouldn't be in the healing house anymore, so Zuko wouldn't even get to see her there if he got injured.

It was stupid to feel this depressed about something like this. His situation was ridiculously shitty and precarious. He was an _actual prisoner of war_ now. Missing Katara should not have been the worst thing about it. It shouldn't have even been in the top ten of worst things about it. But it was up there, right at number one.

Which was why it was such an astonishing thing when she broke into his room the next night.

-0-

Katara wasn't going to take this sexist nonsense lying down.

The Northern Water Tribe rules were stupid. They were practically made to be broken. They said she couldn't speak in the council hall, and she had. They said she couldn't learn waterbending, and now she was. So when Pakku said she wouldn't be able to see Zuko or train with him, she had feigned respectful agreement, but had secretly been thinking, _We'll see about that._

She'd heard Pakku talk to the other master, the one with the bone earring, about how much Orca Group were rapidly improving from fighting against Zuko. It gave her an idea. In the afternoon, when Aang had gone to see him and Sokka had been out with Princess Yue, Katara had gone to the sheer ice walls and practised how to melt and reform the glacial ice. She'd need to be able to do this quickly.

Katara had learned from trying to sneak around with Aang. She had to be _even sneakier._ Sokka was always going on about what a ninja Zuko was, so she hoped he could bring the sneakiness to the table, so to speak, once she busted him out.

She waited till late at night when both Sokka and Aang were asleep. Katara was feeling quite alert. She crept out and down to the council hall. Most of the town was quiet, but there were some watchmen wandering around. There was a guard at the front of the council hall, but no one at the back. This would actually be easy. Katara simply snuck around the back and found her way to Zuko's room. She melted a hole in the wall, only to be greeted by the sight of him in full on defensive position, fists blazing.

"Hi," she said brightly as she climbed in.

"Katara, what the hell?" Zuko said, sounding both really surprised and really relieved as he dropped his stance.

"I came to bust you out."

"Bust me out? Isn't that against the _most scared rules and traditions of this tribe_?" Zuko put on a voice to imitate Pakku's gruff speaking style.

"Some rules were made to be broken," she said, and he nodded in agreement. She knew he'd be on the same page about this. That made it much easier to say, "I need to ask you a favour. Can you train with me?"

"What? Now? It's the middle of the night."

"Yes, now. We'll have to be sneaky, but Sokka said you've got really mad, sneaky ninja skills," Katara said encouragingly.

"You can just say ninja skills, you know. All ninjas are sneaky. That's what being a ninja is," Zuko corrected her.

"Fine, you've got ninja skills."

"Why do you want to train with me in the middle of the night?" Zuko asked directly.

"Well, I heard Pakku saying that training with you is helping Orca Group improve rapidly. I want to improve rapidly too. I want to be the best waterbender they have ever seen and beat up all those gross men who say I can't do it because I'm a girl. You can help me."

"Okay. Let's do this."

It was great he agreed so easily, but Katara wished he'd held out a little longer. She had mentally prepared a really long speech about why he should help her and now she wouldn't get to use it.

They snuck out the back and through the town. Zuko was really good at avoiding the waterbending watchmen. Zuko whispered at her that they couldn't train on the ice fields or the training grounds because they were too visible.

"Aang and I got caught when we tried training in secret in the side streets," Katara whispered back.

Zuko looked thoughtful and scanned his eyes around the town. "What's up the back there, near that waterfall?"

"I don't know."

"It looks like there is a bit of open space before the cliff." Zuko said. "Let's check it out."

They had to be careful passing the palace. There were many more watchmen around there. A short distance behind the palace was some kind of garden. Katara could make out the top of a tree. There were high, thick walls all around it and a moon gate entrance in front of them. The ice became slicker underfoot the closer they got.

At one point, Zuko slipped awkwardly and nearly fell, but she caught his arm before he did. It took him a long moment to right himself. He couldn't straighten up his long legs without one of his feet skidding off in another direction. She stifled a giggle.

"That wasn't very ninja of you," she whispered, amused. She was still holding on to him.

"Give me a break. I'm still getting used to all this ice," he grumbled back.

"Maybe you need better snow boots."

"I don't know about that. Look."

Zuko pointed at the grass beyond the moon gate. It was a large, temperate garden. As soon as they passed the walls, the air felt much warmer. The grass was soft and thick underfoot. The tree had leaves and even a few blossoms clinging to its branches. There was an expanse of grass, then a small lake with an island in the centre.

"Must be some kind of hot spring that's keeping this place warm," Zuko said as they crossed a bridge to a little island. There was a pond right in the very middle.

"Look, there's fish in there," Katara said, pointing at the two koi fish swimming around each other in circles. They had matching spots. Neat.

"What do you think this place is?" Zuko asked.

"It's behind the palace. Maybe some kind of decorative garden for Yue and Arnook?" Katara suggested. "Do you think we could spar here? Yue and Arnook are probably sound asleep. I don't want to disturb them."

"No. I think they wouldn't be able to hear us if the palace walls are as thick as the garden walls."

They looked around for a few moments.

"This place is perfect," Zuko decided. "It's got space. We won't be spotted. It's nice and warm." He stifled a yawn.

Katara realised that it was actually quite late. They'd been looking for a place to spar for most of the night. "How about we come back tomorrow night? I'll come bust you out again."

"Sure. I'll pay more attention to what moves the masters are doing during training. See if I can figure them out. Then I can show you."

"Tomorrow then," Katara said with a huge smile.

This was the start of a beautiful training routine. Every day she learned from Master Nukka, but every night she would sneak out with Zuko and they'd come up to the garden together.

Zuko started trying to adapt the waterbending moves to his firebending. He could copy some of the things the warriors were doing. He'd show her with firebending. Then she'd try and replicate it and translate it back into waterbending. It was a bit of a process and it was hard to get the forms exactly the same, but it worked. It was a bit astonishing, actually. Their elements were so different yet they could both do some similar moves.

Pakku had commented on how aggressive her style was when he came to check her progress, but was otherwise very pleased with her. Only once he asked her where she had learnt a move from. She'd blithely replied that she was studying waterbending in her spare time. Pakku assumed she meant waterbending scrolls. It wasn't a _lie,_ lie. It was just a little white lie.

Seeing Zuko quickly became her favourite part of the day. It made up for how aggravating training in Seal Class could be. The boys in her class were horrible to her. Master Nukka tried to intervene, but it didn't change anything. The boys resented her being allowed in. She tried to ignore them. She pretended what they said didn't hurt her feelings. She reminded herself that she was achieving her dream of becoming a waterbender. It shouldn't matter what all the boys in this tribe thought about that.

She wasn't learning waterbending for _them._

Aang tried his best to support her. He thought it would be a good idea to talk it over with boys in their class so they could see that their thinking was wrong. He tried to reason with them. Katara preferred showing them. She would beat them up with her bending and make her point that way.

Sometimes, Yugoda called her up to the healing house to learn a technique. Pakku had agreed that Yugoda could teach Katara one healing technique a day. He had been very reluctant to do this. He said he didn't want his _best student_ to miss out on too much combative waterbending now that she was making such great progress.

He respected how hard Katara was working on her bending. Sometimes, for the tiniest moment, he would smile at her when she mastered a form. He was always civil and polite to her now. Occasionally, they'd talk after lessons and it seemed like he was really listening to her. For Pakku that was huge.

After lessons, Sokka and Aang normally went to see Zuko. Sokka was extremely determined to have _the last word_ each visit, but was frequently disappointed. He said Yue had broken his sarcasm engine. He didn't seem to mind this. He was all moon-eyed lovesick over her. They all had to hear Sokka go on about Operation: Yue Is So Beautiful and how beautiful, smart and lovely she was.

The only night she was late for Zuko was the night when Yue told Sokka they couldn't see each other anymore, as Arnook had informed Yue that she would be engaged to Hahn, the jerk from the council meeting. Sokka had been devastated.

It seemed horrible that Yue didn't get to have any say in who her husband would be and, even worse, her dad had chosen someone like Hahn for her. Hahn was _awful._ The news that he was going to be the next chief, as his engagement to Yue officially made him Arnook's successor, had gone straight to his head. He threw his weight around all over the tribe.

He started coming to "check up" on Seal Class, even though he wasn't a bender. He wanted Aang to "report directly to him" as the new chief-in-waiting. Katara loved Aang, but she had felt irritated with his people-pleasing nature here. Rather than telling Hahn to shove it where the sun didn't shine, he had amicably agreed to talk to Hahn by choice. Katara never spoke to Hahn if she could avoid it.

Katara thought Hahn just got off on bossing Aang around, and she was very protective of Aang. She stood up for Aang a lot against him. The other boys started teasing her about being Aang's _mummy._ So she hit all of those boys with the water whip covered in sharp icicle spikes that she'd been working on with Zuko.

Take _that,_ jerks.

It was a pretty brutal move. One of the masters, Sharktooth Necklace (Zuko couldn't remember anyone's name and just called them all by their identifying jewellery), had busted it out a couple of days ago. It was a new technique that he had invented just for fighting firebenders. Zuko had three huge gashes on his side, but he hadn't seemed to mind. He respected Sharktooth Necklace and his new, crazy moves.

This attitude irritated Yugoda. She encouraged him to yield at the first blow in the future. Zuko refused, saying he'd be dragged out of the icefield unconscious before he yielded to Sharktooth. This was true. Orca Group had started a five-second-rule for Zuko because of this stubbornness. If he stayed down for five seconds, the fight was over. Today, Zuko had obstinately insisted that the huge gashes were "just scratches" until Pakku got fed up with him. Yugoda had scolded Zuko for his foolishness, told him there would be no arctic trout for him tonight, and left Katara to heal the remaining two gashes after a quick demonstration.

As soon as Yugoda left, Zuko smiled widely at her. "I figured out how he does it," he said in a low, conspiratorial voice. "I can show you tonight."

He was trying so hard to learn different forms just so he could show her. She hated that he had gotten so injured again, but her heart was so light thinking about how much he would do for her. She adored him for it. She could've kissed him for it.

She understood Sokka's mooning over Yue now. _Spirits,_ Yue was like Sokka's version of Zuko. If they were actually going out, would she be as big an idiot as Sokka, making carvings and writing poems for him? Would Zuko like that?

She shook herself mentally for being silly. They'd have to be going out for her to write poems for him, and she knew that was impossible. If Yue wasn't engaged to Hahn, it would be simple and easy for her to be with Sokka. Sokka and Yue were both Water Tribe.

It wasn't so simple with Zuko.

Katara had fun with him and conversation flowed easily most of the time. But every now and then, one of them would say something and the other would react. It was then that she was reminded of the differences between them. Zuko had never seen snow until he left the Fire Nation. He had no idea how to fish or build a canoe. Katara had never felt monsoon rain. She'd never swum in a coral reef or made a sandcastle. Everything about them was so different. They bent different elements. They had such different upbringings. They came from such different places.

She was Water Tribe and proud.

Zuko was Fire Nation to the bone.

-0-

"Who will I write poems for now?" Sokka moaned, lying on the floor.

"Sokka, get up. That floor is ice. You'll get sick, then Katara will be pissed at me," Zuko said and he went over to haul the other boy up.

"Leave me here, so cold.

because Yue doesn't love

me anymore, so sad."

Sokka said mournfully while counting the syllables. Fucking hell, he was even being sad about Yue in haikus now.

Zuko physically picked him up then, one arm under his legs and the other under his back. He was strong enough to lift Sokka. This annoyed Sokka to no end. It was only the indignity of being picked up bodily by Zuko that caused Sokka to right himself and abandon lying spreadeagled on the floor.

"Maybe Yue's not the haiku type?" Aang suggested mildly from where he sat cross legged on the bed.

Sokka slumped over to sit next to Aang. Zuko really needed to get more chairs in here if the two of them were going to keep coming over every afternoon.

Since Yue had told Sokka she couldn't see him anymore, he had taken to coming to see Zuko to complain for _hours._ The first day Zuko hadn't know what to say except "that's rough, buddy" to all of Sokka's tragic exclamations about Yue marrying an arsehole. It seemed to help, because Sokka kept coming back. Or maybe it was just that Sokka had much more free time now that it had gone pear-shaped with Yue.

"Yue is the _everything_ type. You don't understand, Aang, you've never been in love," Sokka complained loudly.

"Hey, I know about being in love. The monks said it was important to make love to everyone in the whole world."

"Not everyone, I hope. I mean, no offence, Aang, but I don't think that's practical or hygienic. That would get tiring and more than a little bit sticky," Zuko said flatly.

Sokka came to complain about his love life. Aang came to dispense always well-meaning, often useless, and occasionally really weird advice. _Make love to everyone?_ How was _that_ a solution? What the hell kind of perverted orgies happened in Air Temples a hundred years ago?

"Eww, Zuko. Eww," Sokka said, momentarily snapped out of his tragic funk to make a disgusted face.

"I'm not the one who brought up orgies!" Zuko said defensively.

"What's an orgy?" Aang asked, sounding curious. And young. And so, so innocent.

Sokka threw his head back and laughed. It was the first time he'd done that in three days, and Zuko was glad for the sound. He would have been even gladder if Sokka had not been laughing at him.

"That, my friend, is a great question for Zuko," Sokka said as he clapped Aang on the back.

"Screw you, Sokka!" Zuko snapped.

Aang kept looking at him expectantly.

"Look, Aang, an orgy is when …" Zuko trailed off and looked at the kid's wide-eyed face. He felt his cheeks start blazing red.

Did Aang know about sex? Was this conversation going to be the first time someone told him about sex? Why did it have to be Zuko's job to tell Aang about sex? How was this his life? Damnit, he'd already had to explain bisexuality to Sokka! He shouldn't have to do another awkward sex talk, surely?

This conversation would start with orgies and end with awkward questions. If he was burdened with the horrible task, shouldn't he get diagrams so " _the talk"_ could be more serious and factual? Zuko was sure it was irresponsible to tell a kid about orgies before they even knew what sex was. He just couldn't.

"I'll tell you when you've mastered waterbending, okay?" he said. It was a little better than just saying "I'll tell you when you're older," but only just.

Katara arrived incandescently cross at him that night. She broke in and stomped right up to him, saying, "What the on earth is wrong with you? Aang told me you were going to talk to him about orgies when he masters waterbending!"

Zuko tried to explain how the conversation had gotten so lost that afternoon. Katara, like her brother, seemed amused by this.

"I'm sure Aang knows about sex," she said when he finished.

"Are you? Because he still thinks all flying lemurs are boys and all bouncing fruitbats are girls! One of us is going to have to have this conversation with him," Zuko replied, pointing between the two of them and hoping Katara would volunteer.

"I guess it's a good thing you're going to explain it all to him after he masters waterbending, then," she said after a beat with a cheeky look.

Damnit!

He wasn't grumpy with her for long. Seeing Katara every night made his days so much better, even if he was more tired. He enjoyed training now. The waterbending warriors were learning from him, but he was learning from them too. He watched them closely, puzzled out which moves he could adapt to firebending and how to form them, then he would show Katara.

His style was evolving too. He could actually do much more with his firebending than he'd ever experimented with. Previously, he'd always focussed on the classic forms, but firebending was quite versatile. He couldn't copy everything the waterbending warriors did, but there was more of an overlap than he ever imagined. Firebending with waterbending forms and using his opponents own strength against them was working out much better for Zuko than offensive attacks all day. Fighting Sozin style had been _exhausting._ He'd even tried a few of Aang's favourite moves to see if he could make the fire move like air.

On the way to the garden every night, he'd show her some ninja tricks. She was getting really good. She could walk almost completely silently now. She showed him how to make the best snowballs and how to do a long slide on the ice without falling on his arse. Admittedly, he'd fallen a lot in attempting to master this. They trained together and, afterwards, they sat on the grass together, watching the fish and talking. He loved just talking with her. She could make him laugh.

Last night, they'd been sitting by the pond and looking at the fish and just talking, neither of them quite keen to go back to sleep. She'd asked him who he thought would win in a fight between Master Pakku and Master Jeong Jeong.

"See, Master Jeong Jeong would take one look at Pakku and say, ' _Widen your stance—wider! Wider! You must breathe deeper before I will deign to fight you_ ,'" Zuko replied, mimicking Master Jeong Jeong's voice.

"Then Pakku would say, ' _Your outfit does not fit in the rules of this fight. We have rules in the North, you know!'"_ Katara said with a really good try at Pakku's gruff and grumpy tone.

"I actually think it would depend on the time of day," Zuko said after a few moments.

"Why do you say that?" Katara asked him curiously.

"Firebending is much stronger when the sun is out. Midday, when the sun is at its peak, is when it is the strongest. If they fought during the day, Jeong Jeong would win," Zuko explained.

"I always notice my waterbending is stronger at night," Katara told him quietly, like it was a secret.

"Well, our elements are opposites. You're stronger with the moon, but I'm stronger with the sun."

She gave him a strange look. "Perhaps they could try in the really early morning when the sun and the moon are both up." Her expression was pensive, like she was trying to solve a difficult problem. "They'd have to meet in the middle," she concluded.

-0-

Yugoda had worried for Katara, the granddaughter of her dear friend. She was a little spitfire, just like Kanna, who also never backed down from saying what she thought. She had certainly made a big impression on Pakku. Yugoda had caught the old grump actually smiling proudly at the poor girl one day! It was unsettling.

One afternoon, just after Princess Yue's engagement, he talked to Katara about it for a long time, then came to ask Yugoda what she thought! He wanted to know if she thought arranged marriages were fair. Will wonders never cease!

Pakku had changed his tune completely. From total refusal to let Katara learn waterbending, he was now very stubborn about parting with her for even half an hour. He gushed about her constantly. Yugoda had to hear about how Katara was the best, most hardworking and most determined student he had ever taught.

This was a problem for Yugoda because Katara also needed to learn healing. Katara was an exceptionally gifted waterbender and had a natural talent for healing, but that would only take her so far. Healing was complicated because the human body was complicated. Healers needed years of training to be proficient. Pakku expected Yugoda to fit years of training into brief moments of demonstration when she pulled the girl, unwilling, from her combat lesson.

Katara was a good girl, but she was not very interested in learning healing at this moment. It would be a problem as she would be responsible for the health and well-being of her friends once they left. Yugoda had gathered that Katara spent a great deal of her time looking after those foolish boys when they had been on the road. Yugoda wanted to teach her as much about healing as humanly possible, but Katara's reluctance was becoming an issue. Yugoda could only show her one procedure a day, and she wanted to make them count.

At first she had tried appealing to Katara's strong sense of duty. She called Katara in to heal the boys from Seal Class, the ones that Katara herself had injured. Yugoda wanted to teach the girl how to fix her own messes. She hoped a sense of obligation to the boys she had hurt would encourage Katara to focus on healing.

This backfired spectacularly. Katara didn't seem overly invested in making these boys feel better and her healing with them was extremely perfunctory and far below her usual standard. Yugoda talked to her son, Nukka, the master of Seal Group. He said it was probably because the boys were very cruel to Katara. He tried to prevent it as much as possible during lesson times, but they were persistently unkind to her. Nukka thought she felt proud of being able to beat them up. It was a blessing for everyone when the girl got moved up a bending class.

Next, Yugoda thought she would play to Katara's obvious respect for the waterbending warriors. Her healing was much better when she was trying to heal the older masters. She tried harder and her technique improved. However, she had a tendency to heal the surface and not push deeper with her awareness to find the root of the pain. Yugoda asked her why after correcting her for the eighth time.

"It feels intrusive to reach inside someone I don't know very well," Katara had answered, and looked oddly shy.

It seemed unusual at first, because the girl was so supremely confident in all other areas. However, she was right. There was a certain intimacy and trust involved in healing. For someone just beginning their training without the detached professionalism of a well-practised healer, it would be confronting. Yugoda encouraged her to persist anyway and told her the ability to sense the deeper cause of pain would come to her in time. Katara, to her credit, did try her hardest. However, her results varied wildly depending on how relaxed she felt with her patient, and also her boyfriend's proximity.

Yugoda had quickly become quite fond of Iroh's nephew, grumpy and stubborn as he was, but his presence in the healing house had an extremely negative effect on Katara's ability to concentrate. She was constantly trying to abandon her patients to go and see her boyfriend if he ever came in at the same time that she was learning.

Yugoda knew Pakku was determined to keep them separated. He was being a little authoritarian about this, in Yugoda's opinion. He said he hadn't liked the way he'd seen Katara hug Zuko that first day.

"You know what teenage boys are like, Yugoda. I don't want the firebender getting any _ideas_ about my granddaughter!" Pakku had barked at her, completely unaware that those two had moved well past _ideas_ and were definitely doing the nookie together, in Yugoda's opinion.

Yugoda reminded Pakku that Katara was not his blood relation.

"She's close enough!" Pakku had grumbled at her, then stormed off supremely offended.

The healing house was the only time Zuko and Katara got to briefly see each other and it was natural that they would want to be together, but Yugoda did _not have time for that._ Not anymore. She only got Katara for half an hour a day. She would not be wasting that learning time on their hormonal canoodling.

Yugoda thought it wouldn't be a good idea to let Katara practice her healing on her boyfriend if she could barely focus when he was nearby. Yugoda had let Katara treat him the first time he came in, but she thought this had been a mistake. The two had spent the entire time cuddling. Not even the fact they'd jumped apart when she'd entered and Katara, for some odd reason, had started referring to Zuko as 'patient' could convince her otherwise.

Yugoda hadn't been born yesterday. She knew what had been going on, no matter how much they denied it!

Zuko was an exceptionally difficult and frustrating patient as well. He either had an extraordinarily high pain threshold or was extremely headstrong about trying to hide how much he was hurt. He always insisted things didn't pain him that much, which made it difficult to get to the root of the problem. He refused to yield before the damage became concentrated, and that made his injuries more time-consuming and complicated to heal.

One day, that boy was going to find someone he was willing to yield to. Oh, how Yugoda would laugh at him then! Yugoda started lecturing him on the whole healing process, so he would know just how much extra work he was giving her with this foolishness about never giving up. Honestly, some days he drove her crazier than her four sons combined.

However, it turned out that letting Katara treat Zuko had been the answer all along.

She had realised this when Kuruk had invented a new, rather brutal move a while ago. He had been getting much more creative in his bending and attentive in his training lately. The new move had left three very large gashes in Zuko's side (which only needed to be one, had that foolish boy yielded). Yugoda had known it was an ideal injury to show Katara. Three procedures were needed to heal it completely, and Katara had needed to learn two of them. Reluctantly, and against her better judgement Yugoda had sent for the girl.

Katara had arrived exceptionally quickly. After scolding Zuko and giving Katara a thorough demonstration on the first gash, Yugoda had been forced to leave her to it. Kuruk had injured himself with his own water whip and needed urgent attention. When she had returned, she had heard them talking through the door. Some instinct had held her there, telling her not to interrupt them at this moment.

"There. All better." Katara's voice had been cheerful.

"I think you need to push deeper ... _into me_ ," Zuko had said, sounding extremely awkward.

There had been a moment of silence, then Katara had giggled nervously. Zuko had made a loud, extremely exaggerated sigh.

"I didn't mean that in a weird or sexual way," he had complained dramatically.

"What did you mean?"

"I'm just saying when Yugoda did it, she used a profound web method to get to the bottom of it, then bridging technique to bring the sides together, then compression healing at the top. You forgot the profound web," Zuko had explained.

Goodness, Yugoda had thought, he had been really listening while she had constantly lectured him on complicated healing processes.

Well, at least one of them had been listening!

"I'm not very good at that one," Katara had confessed quietly. "I don't like doing it."

"Why not?"

"Reaching into people with my bending, it feels weird. I'm worried I'll hurt you."

"I trust you. You won't hurt me." He had sounded so certain.

There had been another moment of silence.

"Or you can just not try _,_ but don't blame me when Yugoda comes in and makes _the face_ at you," Zuko had huffed, sounding a little disappointed in his girlfriend.

"She always makes _the face_ at me," Katara had answered, then after a moment added, "Okay, don't get grumpy with me. I'll do it. But you need to let me know if it hurts."

Yugoda had given them a few more moments before she had opened the door. They had been very close together, but they jumped apart as soon as they heard her enter.

"Well, this is healing nicely, patient," Katara had said in that strange, formal voice.

Yugoda had made _a face_ at her. That wasn't fooling anyone.

She had wondered briefly if her disgruntled, no-nonsense expression was what they were both referring to as " _the face_." Yugoda had been making this face at foolish youngsters too long to change now. Still, Yugoda had been pleasantly surprised as she had checked Katara's work. The girl had done an excellent and thorough job.

Yugoda had started allowing Katara to treat her boyfriend as frequently as possible after that day. It wasn't possible every day. Yugoda could never predict when Zuko would come in. Some days he didn't get sent in at all and some days he came very late in the day, but Yugoda would have already used up her Katara lesson. Still, Katara's healing improved dramatically. They obviously had enough trust between them to make attempting deep healing possible.

It was an added bonus that at least one of them always seemed to be listening to Yugoda's demonstration. Sometimes, she caught Katara just _looking_ at her boyfriend with a rather soppy expression. When Katara was looking at him like this, Yugoda knew she was not paying attention to a word said. This was something that normally peeved the older woman greatly. Zuko, who had been treated to a wide variety of Yugoda's lectures and was often swayed by promises of arctic trout, would end up repeating the instructions to his girlfriend a few minutes later.

Zuko, to his credit, seemed genuinely interested in how healing worked. The warriors had a respect for him for his fighting skills, but most of the tribe considered him some kind of terrible, dangerous troublemaker. However, Yugoda knew there was a surprising gentleness to the lad. Sorak had laughed at her for this, saying, "Mum, you've been smelling too many healing potions. That kid is as gentle as a hurricane."

One afternoon, when Zuko had been her last patient, Yugoda had even shown him the family healing book. It was something she hadn't shown many people. It had been passed down by the women in her family, all master healers. It contained all their knowledge and wisdom accumulated over many years. Zuko flicked through the pages carefully, then paused on a page about earth benders.

"Have you treated earth benders here?" he asked her curiously. "I thought no foreigners ever came north."

"No, that's not my writing. My grandmother wrote those pages. She travelled the world with her husband before the ice walls went up, sharing her knowledge about healing with the other nations. She wanted to record the things she had learned on her journey."

"She went to the Fire Nation?"

"Yes. And the air temples too. It was her dream to one day create a guide that brought all the healing knowledge in the world together and to discover if other benders had healing abilities as well. These were her first notes."

"She thought other benders could heal?"

"It was her theory. She was never able to prove it, but look here—" Yugoda pointed at the diagram her grandmother had drawn "—I think she was on to something. Waterbending healing has always been excellent purely because our bodies are mostly fluid. But my grandmother thought earthbenders could potentially heal bones far more effectively than waterbenders.

"Bones are the most rigid part of the body and they share some common traits with earth. Waterbending is more effective in healing any system that has a flow or a movement to it. It is the stiff and inflexible nature of the bones that make them such a challenge for our healers. There is very little push and pull to manipulate," she explained.

"What about firebenders?" Zuko asked. "Did she think fire could heal anything?"

"Oh, yes. She wrote a great deal about the Fire Nation healer she stayed with." Yugoda flicked through the pages about firebenders. Her grandmother's final note said:

 _Fire can be used for improving circulation, muscular issues and the energy systems of the body. Esp. help arthritis. Based on assumption that fire=life, I hypothesise more benders also possess the life-prolonging spark. Further investigation with K. needed._

Yugoda asked Zuko if he'd ever seen firebending used in that way.

"Lieutenant Jee, on my ship, used to use his bending to help his arthritis. When Katara was very cold, I used my bending to warm her back up and improve her circulation, but I don't know what your grandmother means about the life-prolonging spark," Zuko offered, trying to be helpful.

"My grandmother said proficient firebenders had the ability to give some of their chi to others in certain situations. She described it as a little spark of energy that could help people hold on to life longer. She saw it several times after an earthquake. Master firebenders were keeping their loved ones clinging to life. It made a crucial difference in several cases."

Zuko looked shocked. "I've never heard of anything like that. I've never been taught anything like that," he spluttered.

"My grandmother didn't think it was a skill that was taught. It only ever occurred in the cases of catastrophic injury and the bender had to sincerely care about the injured person. That would make it a hard skill to practise and refine. She could never figure out how it worked."

Zuko listened and looked thoughtful.

"So, you've never experienced or seen anything like that?" Yugoda had to ask. "Not even when you saved Sokka?"

She might never get another chance to have such a cordial conversation about healing with a firebender who had cause to save someone. She might finally be able to add to her grandmother's notes. Her contributions to the book had been limited.

"No. Sorry. Sokka was _not_ my loved one when I pulled him out of the storm and I didn't even know it was something you could do with firebending until five minutes ago."

"I would have liked to find out," Yugoda said a little sadly, closing the book. "I guess we'll never know. It's not like I can pass this on."

"Why not? Don't you have four sons?"

"Men are not allowed to learn healing in our tribe. It is considered women's work. I only have sons, and my sons have only given me grandsons. My youngest, Nukka, wanted to learn and I asked for special permission to teach him, but it was refused."

"He's the Master instructor of Seal Group," Zuko said. "Katara liked him. She said he was a good teacher. "

"He would have been an even better healer," Yugoda said simply. It was an old disappointment and she had learned to live with it. "I am afraid we have become too set in our ways. I think boys should be able to try healing if they wish, just as your girlfriend is proving that women are more than capable of waterbending." She got up to put the book away.

"Yugoda, not this again _._ How many times have I told you, _she's not my girlfriend!"_ Zuko huffed at her, as he always did.

It always amused her greatly to tease him about his girlfriend and watch his face go bright red. Zuko wasn't subtle about how much he adored Katara, and that made these stringent denials more entertaining.

"Mmm hhhmmmm." Yugoda made her disbelieving, that's-not-fooling-anyone noise.

"Yugoda, did you ever want to learn to fight?" Zuko asked after a moment, sounding genuinely interested.

Yugoda was a little taken aback. No one had ever asked her that. "I come from an older time when fighting was not necessary."

She had been born after the walls had gone up. They had never been attacked in Yugoda's lifetime. She had never really considered it until Katara had come.

"You can remember the peace like Aang?" Zuko sounded astonished.

"I am not more than a hundred years old, Zuko!" Yugoda scolded him.

"Sorry. How old are you?"

Ah, youth. Male youth.

"Zuko, you cannot ask any woman that! It is a rude question," Yugoda instructed. It would be much better for his health in the long run if he never posed this question to another woman ever again.

"Sorry, Yugoda," he said, sounding chastised.

"I have accepted my lot. I have always thought that healing people was better than fighting them," she explained gently after a moment, in answer to his previous question.

"Even in the middle of a war?" He looked up then, eyes curious.

"Especially in the middle of a war. That is when people are the most in pain. I prefer to heal rather than hurt. We can all do small things to make the world a better place, and healing is mine."

Yugoda was not like Katara, raging against the world. She had felt called to healing and enjoyed it. Even if she had been given other options, she would have chosen it anyway.

-0-

notes:

Lovely wonderful readers. Enormous thank you to everyone who gives feedback. It makes my day to know you are enjoying the story and reviews help keep me motivated.

Enormous, giant chocolate sundae full of thanks to Boogum for the beta! She's the best!

Today I'll ramble about:

Sokka

homophobia in ATLA

Zutara are mirrors and character foils for each other

The spirit oasis

Healing

Yugoda and Katara's character path

So, despite his advice to Aang, Sokka did not 'play it cool' when he was into a girl. He is, in fact, a massive dork when he has a crush on someone. His developing relationship with Yue is going to take up a lot more of his attention, so he will not be as focussed on Katara's love life, now that he has one of his own. I wanted to give Yue a little more agency, and a role beyond being an idealised princess. Yue tries to involve herself in the Tribe's politics and strategy in my fic.

In my first draft, there was a huge bit about Sokka's reaction to "the armistice" between the Northern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation. The FN haven't attacked the NWT in 85 years, and it _'_ s implied there is an agreement of some sort. The Northern Water Tribe effectively threw the Southern Water Tribe to the wolves and never lifted a finger to help them in canon. If you compare the two places, it is obvious that the Northern Water Tribe prosperity came at the cost of the Southern Water Tribe decimation – which makes Hahn attitude towards Sokka eight hundred times more frustrating. Sokka had a lot of feelings about the Southern Water Tribe being abandoned by their sister tribe, but if I followed that thread it lead to a mega depressing place where Sokka felt at odds with Yue and Zuko. I much prefer my boys roasting each other and budding romance because Sokka is a dork in love. So I cut it.

Instead they have a super awkward conversation about sexuality. Poor Zuko lands himself in two of these situations, but he brings it up. Romantic love and sexual thoughts have been much more on his mind lately.

Now, Araeph wrote a wonderful meta about the homophobia in the ATLA universe. Rigid gender roles and homophobia often go hand in hand. The Water Tribe do have very strict gender roles, and it would make sense that they would have been more homophobic. However I think any gender subversion would have just been labelled as "wrong" and swept under the rug. Sokka's knee jerk reaction is because Sokka has also been brought up with this view. Homosexuality and bisexuality is something he's vaguely aware of, but has never thought about deeply.

However, Sokka is not naturally a judgemental person. I think he would have a live and let live attitude about it, especially because Zuko doesn't have an issue with it, or see it as any kind of threat to his masculinity. Sokka would never tell him in a million years, but he does admire Zuko's "manliness". He learned to get over his sexism very quickly, and I think he would same about homosexuality. I think he would be more inappropriately curious, to be honest, and he'd probably still see relationships through traditional gender roles for a while– eg asking who does "the boy bit" between two girls. It would be your Pakku types who would be more rigid in their reaction I think.

This chapter was shamelessly fluffy and soppy for Zuko and Katara. The spirit oasis makes an appearance! However Zuko and Katara are blithely unaware of the significance of the decorative garden they've chose to spar in. Zuko and Katara will still fight each-other here, mostly because I love the visuals, and the symbolism and everything in the spirit oasis In my fic, however, are coming up for friendly training, and will discover more about each other. Their elements are opposites, but there is a lot they can learn from each other.

They say that leaning fighting styles is like learning languages, if you already know a couple, it is easier to learn more. Zuko is a very versatile fighter. He's a ninja, sword-master and fire-bender, and in the show he actually uses fire-bending to copy Katara and Aang's moves a few times. He uses their moves when they would be more effective.

I wondered how he would go if he deliberately put his mind to trying to copy water-bending style moves, and I think he's actual be very good at adapting them. I also think his own style would need to adapt given his situation. Fire-bending is very dynamic and energetic, but relies on shock-and-awe style offensive tactics and quickly overwhelming an opponent. It's not good for long draw out fights, or days of repeated fighting. Even someone with Zuko's stamina would get tired after hours of it. I think the tricky part would come in trying to teach Katara through fire-bending, because fire-bending is more aggressive. However Katara's style is more aggressive generally.

Katara is driven. She is passionate about learning bending and she obviously worked her butt off to master it so quickly. I think in the show, she must have been teaching herself from scrolls and practising in her spare time, to make as much progress as she did so rapidly. She'd probably make even better progress practising against someone who'd do their best to help her learn though.

One of the things I really like about Zuko and Katara together is how they are opposites and mirrors at the same time. They actually both embody the underpinning philosophy of each other's elements. Water is the element of change, and no other character goes through as much change as Zuko. His life circumstances change very rapidly in the show, and he adapts himself to each new challenge, learning and growing all the while. Fire is the element of willpower, and Katara is one of the most determined characters in the series. Through sheer force of will, personality and hard-work, she masters water-bending, saves villages, and brings her little family out of the desert alive. Katara's got a fire in her belly. They are learning to meet in the middle, even if the differences between them sometimes seem very large.

The whole thing about Zuko and Katara being mirrors comes into play in their attitudes towards healing. Katara has come from a culture where it is expected that she will fulfil a nurturing and healing role. She rejects this role, and even when she does learn healing it is because she can see how necessary it is, rather than because she is genuine interested. Katara would much prefer to kick butt.

Zuko, on the other hand, has come from a very militant and competitive culture that demands he become a violent and aggressive fighter. But Zuko was/is a sweet, soft boy, even despite being horribly punished for not living up to the vicious ideals of his father. He knew enough about medicine to heal his Uncle when Iroh was struck by Azula's lightning. That to me indicates that he would have been genuinely interested in healing enough to teach himself more than rudimentary basics in his spare time.

He would be fascinated by Yugoda's powers to almost magically make people feel better. In more wistful moments, he would wonder if Yugoda would have been able to do anything for his scar had she been there when it happened, but he's not ready to ask her directly yet. Also what Yugoda told him about the spark of life will be important, when I get around to writing book 2.

So Yugoda got a longer bit here, because I think she's great and I also wanted to put some ideas about healing out there. I think there would be forms and techniques that Katara needed to learn to be a more effective healer, and Yugoda would do her best to teach her.

The gorgeous Boogum has a great fic called _the Undying Fire_ in which Zuko has healing abilities, which I recommend to anyone. I also had a chat with paperman0 about healing in the ATLA universe. I wanted to explore healing and this is my take on it.

I think our bodies are at least eighty percent fluid, and it makes sense that waterbending is the most effective. However, Earthbenders would be much better at bones and firebending could be used for a variety of purposes that we use heat for today, such as muscular-skeletal issues. Also "Fire is life" is repeated through out the show, and so I interpreted that a bit literally, by having firebenders able to give their chi or life-energy to others, for a brief window in certain circumstances.

The Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation have never really investigated healing with bending, as their bending healing scope is much more limited. There maybe some healers/benders in the other nations who have experimented with using their bending in more complex healing, but it isn't widely practised, or documented. Collecting all that healing knowledge and finding out best practice would be an emerging field that would be interesting to explore post-war.

I wanted Yugoda to be an example of an older, female character, who is badass in her own way and has the power of agency. Yugoda chose healing and feels called to it. And choice is super important. In Bryke's canon, Katara is just labelled as healer almost by default. It does not seem like Katara actively chose it or is passionate about it. So many wonderful metas have been written about what a tragic thing this is for Katara, to be so robbed of her inner fire by crappy writing.

If it must be Kataang, why couldn't Bryke have done something like have Katara interested in a goal of her own, like writing an international healing book, and have Aang devote time to taking Katara where she needed to go? If she pursues healing post-war, I would much prefer to see her actually passionate about it. I would prefer she grew up into a sassy, wise older lady who enjoyed her job, like Yugoda. The old, sad, regretful Katara we see in LOK is not my Katara.

Next chapter there will be drama and shenanigans. Zuko will get protective, Hahn will get punched in the face and someone will finally agree with Aang that violence isn't the answer.

Til then.


	11. The fight

"Zuko, I want you to train with Master Nukka and Seal Group today," Pakku said. "They're getting lazy. Just fire whips, though. None of that nonsense from yesterday."

Yesterday, Zuko and Carved Bone Necklace Guy had a truly brutal bout that had put them both in the house of healing for over two hours. Zuko hadn't yielded when he probably should have, and Yugoda had been mad at him for that, but it had been worth it to figure out the mini tornado.

At first, he wondered if being sent down to Seal Group was some kind of punishment for yesterday. But then he quickly realised that wasn't it. He had a horrible suspicion he knew why Pakku was sending him down to the lowest level. He'd been scheduled to train with Arctic Fox Group today, Katara's new group. Pakku was always really weird about Katara seeing him. _If only he knew,_ Zuko thought to himself, amused.

Sharktooth and Big Earring "escorted" him to make sure he didn't try anything shifty. He was often "escorted" by them because they were the two most proficient benders in Orca Class. He'd actually spent a great deal of time with them, and he didn't even know their names. Katara had teased him about it and queried what he was going to do if they started wearing matching jewellery. Zuko wasn't saying he felt _guilty,_ but he did see Katara's point.

Sharktooth, as he soon learnt, was named Kuruk, like the Avatar from the Northern Water Tribe. Big Earring was Sorak. It felt weird and awkward to be trading names after an extended amount of time, but Zuko felt a little better for knowing. When they got to the lowest tier of the training levels, Master Nukka still hadn't arrived. Kuruk went off to look for him. Zuko never came down this way. He was mostly on the far ice fields with Orca or Ice-bear Group where there was a huge amount of space for bending battles. It was cramped on the tiers with groups training almost on top of each other.

The kids in Seal Class had segregated themselves into two distinct groups. All the Water Tribe boys were in one corner, and Aang was off by himself, playing with Momo. Zuko called out to Aang from the stairs. What was happening? Did these dicks always leave him out?

Aang looked up and gave Zuko a bright smile. He scooted over and hugged him, ridiculously excited that Zuko would train with them. This struck him as very ironic. Aang had never been this happy about Zuko firebending at him when being chased by the prince, but now he was acting like this was the best news ever.

"Ooooeer, Aang's Uncle's here," one of the Water Tribe kids called from the huddle.

Zuko whipped his head around. Aang had an uncle? There was another airbender around?

"They're just teasing," Aang explained good-naturedly. "They called Katara my mum and Sokka my dad. I guess they'll call you my uncle."

"They do know Sokka and Katara are brother and sister, right?"

This question seemed more pertinent, even though he had many grumpy thoughts about being called Aang's uncle. Mostly thoughts like he was nowhere near old enough or chubby enough to be an uncle, let alone to a kid who was only four years younger! Also, if he was an uncle, that would mean Azula had spawned another person, some poor soul who would probably grow up to be exactly like her. Yikes!

"Yeah," Aang replied.

Zuko looked over at the Water Tribe boys. And Sokka had made comments about Zuko's family being inbred? These kids were obviously inbred idiots if they thought a brother and sister would ... no, he couldn't even think it. It was too gross. Zuko was horribly burdened with having to explain sex to Aang one day. He would not be explaining it to these dicks.

"No, it's all in good fun. It's just friendly teasing," Aang said brightly, but Zuko didn't feel satisfied. It didn't seem friendly to him. He didn't like this. He didn't like thinking that some jerks were picking on Aang or leaving him out.

"Oi, Avatar, get over here!" one of the kids demanded.

"See, they want me to hang out now," Aang said cheerfully, and he turned to go.

Zuko grabbed his arm. "Who's that jerk?" Whoever he was, he shouldn't be talking to Aang in that tone of voice.

"That's Hahn. He's going to be the next chief. He says because he'll be chief while I'm Avatar, we have to learn to work together. I've been trying to make friends with him."

Hahn? The one who was going to marry Yue? The dickhead who had been throwing his weight around all over the tribe? The one who had wanted him executed straight away when he first arrived? The one Katara really didn't like?

Aang wanted to make friends with _that_ Hahn?

Zuko watched, feeling his anger grow, as Hahn bossed Aang around and ordered him to get snacks on his airscooter and come back quick smart. Aang was always keen to please and be helpful. He was so friendly and easy-going. He didn't see anything wrong with this and obeyed.

"Stop that! Leave him alone!" Katara called from the next level up.

She was leaning over the edge of the ice ledge and pointing angrily at Hahn. The sun was in her hair and anger was plain on her face. Zuko had only seen her at night time for ages. He was momentarily struck by how she looked in the daylight, furiously shouting at a jerk.

"Katara!" her new training master snapped. "Pay attention to your lesson. It is a privilege that you are even here!"

Very reluctantly, she turned back. She hadn't seen Zuko, and he didn't want to distract her and get her in trouble with her new master. But he wished he was training up on her level and not down with these lazy assfaces.

Once her back was turned, the boys started up. They were talking loudly about her while knowing full well that she could hear them.

"Who does that horrible peasant think she is?"

"Her brother is even worse. He thinks he knows shit and is a strategist."

"That uncultured southern rube actually thought he had a chance with Yue," Hahn said, and there was some jeering and chortling from the other boys.

Oi, they were insulting Sokka too?

Sorak and Zuko had been waiting on the stairs, but as soon as he heard this, Zuko jumped on to the tier properly. He started walking closer to the idiots. Sorak grabbed his shoulder and tried to pull him back.

"He can't even control his own sister! He lets her do whatever she wants when we all know girls can't waterbend," Hahn said with a glance in Katara's direction.

Hahn reminded Zuko a great deal of Azula then. His friends were like Mai and Ty Lee, always cheering her on as she did terrible things. These boys, they were bullies. Plain and simple. Zuko looked up and saw Katara. She was lined up on the edge with the other benders in Artic Fox Group with her back to them. Her ears went red, but she resolutely did not turn around. She was trying to ignore them.

"Sounds like you are all whining, delicate panda-lily flowers because she beat you up!" Zuko said angrily to them.

"No one asked you, firebender!" Hahn shot back.

Sorak was still grabbing his shoulder, saying, "Leave it, Zuko."

But Zuko could barely hear him. Hahn was still talking, still saying nasty things about Katara.

"You know she only beats up boys because she knows none of us would ever touch her with a ten-foot pole. Who'd want her? She'd make a terrible wife," that total dickface said to his cronies.

How dare he? Katara was awesome! Any guy would be the luckiest person in the universe if Katara wanted to be with him. Marrying Katara would be the best thing that could happen to anyone. No one should talk about her like that.

Zuko turned and shoved Sorak hard. Sorak let him go in surprise. Once released, Zuko turned and sprinted towards the dickhead.

"Too bad her mother is dead. Somebody needs to teach her how to act like a girl," was the last thing Hahn said before Zuko crash-tackled him to the snowy ground.

He proceeded to kick as much shit out of that hedgehog-buggering fuckwit as he could with his bare hands and not his bending. He knew Hahn was a non-bender, and his mother had raised him better than that. She'd always been on at him and Azula about how wrong it was to use your bending against non-benders outside of battle situations. In hindsight, these lectures were probably aimed more directly at Azula than him, but he'd taken them on board anyway.

Still, in no time flat, Hahn was bruised all over and bleeding from his nose and crying loudly like that actress from the Ember Island Players in a dramatic scene while Zuko was hitting him anywhere he could reach and shouting that Katara was a thousand times too awesome for an arsehole like him, and how dare he say something like that about her mother.

None of the other waterbending boys moved to help Hahn. Instead, they had all formed a circle around them and were chanting "fight, fight, fight" excitedly. One of these voices was significantly deeper than the others. Holy hell? Was even Sorak chanting _fight_ too?

How much had Hahn irritated people with his arrogance and dickhead behaviour in a short space of time? Even the adults wanted to see him get his ass kicked! Was it because he shoved his weight around and demanded everybody do what he said because of his new status, and was, in general, an entitled, insufferable git?

Zuko had a horrible moment of clarity mid-punch. He'd previously expected special treatment because of his royal status. He'd thrown his weight around a lot, especially when he spoke to Lieutenant Jee and his other men. Jee had called him on it a couple of times, but Zuko hadn't wanted to listen to someone of much lower status. Had he been an entitled, insufferable git on the _Wani_? Zuko had a horrible suspicion the answer to that question was _yes._

Hahn reached up and pulled his hair, like they were five-year-old girls with pigtails. Sweet Agni, it stung. No one had pulled his hair in ... well, forever. Zuko couldn't ever remember having his hair pulled. Even Azula had been above that, surprisingly. She was a scratcher, but not a hair-puller. Zuko grabbed Hahn's hair and pulled hard in retaliation. Their inelegant fighting became an undignified hair-pulling stand-off.

That was how an extremely unimpressed Pakku found them. Two huge blocks of ice formed around them and separated them. Pakku slammed them both, hard, into the nearby wall before freezing them to it.

"What on earth is the meaning of this?" he shouted angrily.

Shit.

-0-

"The firebender is very useful to me, Chief Arnook," Pakku said to his old friend. "My men have improved in leaps and bounds since training against a real adversary. Kuruk has even invented some new forms to take down firebenders in the event of an attack just from studying his movements. It is vital he still be able to fight tomorrow."

"I think he has certainly fought enough today. This behaviour is unacceptable. He must be punished, Pakku. He must apologise to Hahn publicly in the council hall." Arnook was displeased, but not unreasonable.

"Fine. An apology, and we could confine him to his cell with no meals and no visitors tonight," Pakku suggested.

"Is that sufficient?"

"With all due respect, Chief Arnook, I hardly blame him. After hearing how Hahn has been behaving, the sorts of things he has been saying and how he has treated our honoured visitors, I half wanted to punch him myself."

Pakku did not feel very kindly towards Hahn. Hahn had been saying horrible things about his granddaughter. No, not his granddaughter. He had to stop thinking of her as that. Still, Pakku felt like a punch to the face was more than warranted. Somebody had needed to put the puffed-up teen back in his place, and it couldn't have been anyone from the tribe, on account of Hahn's new status. Pakku knew he wasn't the only one who was secretly amused that the firebender had bested Hahn so thoroughly. He would never let on, but he had waited a little longer than he should have to make his way down to the lower levels to break up the fight simply because the spectacle had been quite diverting.

"He is my successor, Pakku. Do not punch him," Arnook said severely.

"Are you sure he is the right person for Princess Yue? For our tribe?" Pakku had been holding his tongue out of respect for Arnook's decisions, but he hadn't approved of Yue's betrothed. Gentle, clever Yue deserved better than a self-important buffoon.

"I made a promise to his father, Pakku," Arnook said, sounding sad.

Hahn came from a very powerful warrior family, and his father had been Arnook's closest friend for many years before his tragic accident. Arnook had wanted to look after his best friend's son, but he had not reconciled himself to the fact that Hahn was not at all like his father, who had been a wise and fair man. Arnook's blindness here would go badly for the tribe.

"I know, but … I have been talking occasionally with the southern girl. In the South, they let women choose their husbands. Perhaps Yue might like a say in who her husband is?"

Pakku had been very entertained by Katara's preposterous ideas. She thought it was important to love your spouse, and Pakku had said love was blind. He knew this from experience. Most girls wanted unsuitable boys. He had always thought that a logical choice, not a choice based on something as frivolous and shifting as feelings, made by a father who only cared for the girl's best interest was the best way. But Yue wasn't like most girls. She was clever. She would choose well if she were allowed to have a say.

"Pakku, I am surprised at you! In our tribe we have always acknowledged that women are incapable of making these decisions for themselves. They let emotions cloud their judgement. Men make better choices."

Katara had said Pakku couldn't say men were more rational. Arnook had clearly chosen Hahn because he still missed his friend and hoped to see his friend's fine qualities in his son. She pointed out this made Arnook's choice equally emotional.

"I am beginning to wonder if that is true, Chief Arnook. Yugoda says some of our women are quite unhappy with the husbands chosen for them by their fathers. Perhaps we have been misguided there in thinking we always know best."

Pakku had been perturbed after his conversation with Katara, and he had gone to speak to Yugoda. Yugoda had not made him feel better, but had given him some harsh, blunt truths about how some men treated their wives in this tribe. Some father's chose poorly, it was true, but Pakku was unsure if all women would have made better choices.

It kept him up at night sometimes. It made him wonder about Kanna. She'd wanted her own choice so badly that she had run away to the other side of the globe to get it. Had she been running away from him too or just the tribe? He would have treated her well. He could have provided a nice, safe life for her. She'd said she loved him, but evidently that hadn't been enough for her to want to marry him. She'd chosen a perilous journey with an uncertain outcome over becoming his wife. Had he made her feel trapped? Was that why she left?

"Pakku!" Arnook interrupted his thoughts. "Surely you are not saying what I think you are saying?" He sounded surprised.

"Respectfully, Chief, I am only advising you to carefully consider your choice. Really look at Hahn. If he is to be our new chief, you need to think about your whole tribe. Does Hahn conduct himself with honour and decorum? Does he make sound choices? Does he treat your daughter kindly? If you are to make this choice for Yue, at least consider all the facts, and not some promise you made years ago."

"I only want what is best for my daughter. You know that, old friend."

"I know."

-0-

"Your firebender must apologise to Hahn at a council meeting," Pakku instructed Aang, sounding frustrated. "He is refusing, but he needs to be persuaded! Go do it!" he practically barked while pointing down the stairs to where the Zuko was.

Oh, monkey feathers!

Not another one of these council meeting apologies! It hadn't gone at all well when they had tried to force Katara to apologise. Aang did not think Zuko was going to be much different. It was Aang's unhappy task to convince Zuko to say sorry. He took Sokka with him, but Katara wasn't allowed because of _the rules._

Sokka was smiling today though, so that was nice. When Aang had told him about the fight and how Zuko had kicked Hahn's butt, Sokka had laughed a great deal. He'd seemed quite chipper since then. Aang had also felt a little amused, even though he knew it was bad to find amusement in violence.

He knew Hahn wasn't the nicest person, but he had wanted to keep things light and breezy during training and had tried to be his friend anyway. In Aang's opinion, nothing was achieved by stomping around dramatically, challenging people to fight dramatically, and, in general, causing a lot of drama. It just made situations difficult and confronting when they could be relaxed and fun instead. But he had a feeling he and Zuko were going to disagree on this.

"Zuko, you are my hero! You hit him in the ear!" Sokka said as he came into the cell and sat next to the prince and clapped him over the shoulder. Now they were both sitting on the bed. That meant that Aang had to stand awkwardly.

They really needed another chair in here.

"I actually hit him everywhere," Zuko said with a grin. "What an asshole."

"I know, right?"

"No one makes fun of you except me," Zuko said firmly, an oddly protective note in his voice.

"Aww. You really do care," Sokka said smugly.

Aang started emptying his pockets and handing the contents to a bemused Zuko. He had snuck in as many snacks as he could. He had even touched the seal jerky, and he hated touching meat! But he knew Zuko liked it. If they weren't going to feed him tonight, Aang could at least bring in as many snacks as was humanly possible. Zuko had been really adamant that sneaking snacks to the person you kidnapped was _not_ part of ransoming back in Makapu, but Aang hoped he wouldn't mind too much. Aang just didn't want him to go hungry.

Zuko looked at the jerky strangely when Aang produced it from his pockets. "Thanks, Aang. I'm really touched," he said as he took it.

Aang told Zuko about having to say sorry in the council meeting.

"Nah, fuck that, Aang. That dickhead got what was coming to him. I'm not sorry. No regrets."

Sokka high-fived him.

"But you _have to,_ otherwise there will be even bigger trouble," Aang insisted.

"Aang, I'm not sorry. He shouldn't treat you that way or say any of those things about you guys. Did you hear what he was saying about Katara! He _needed_ a kick in the nuts for that alone. I was sticking up for you guys."

Aang was sharply reminded of Kuzon when Kuzon had come briefly to the Air Temple not long after Aang had found out he was the Avatar. Kuzon had been furious at the other Air Nomad kids for leaving Aang out of their games. He'd been adamant that they shouldn't treat Aang that way. He had started a big fight because of it. He'd also thought he was sticking up for Aang.

Sadly, the fight hadn't helped Aang any, because violence was never the answer. It just made things more awkward. Kuzon had left a few days later, and the other Air Nomads had gone back to avoiding Aang, but some of them had been even colder to him, saying things like, "Why don't you just go play in the Fire Nation!" Kuzon also hadn't wanted to apologise either. Aang thought of what he had said to Kuzon then. He wondered what he would have said differently if he had known then that the other kids were only going to treat him worse after Kuzon left.

"Hahn is not a nice guy," Aang said. "I agree with you. And maybe he deserved to be kicked in his nuts eight times—"

"Seriously? Eight times?" Sokka interjected, staring horror-struck at Zuko.

"He said it was too bad Katara's mum was dead, because somebody needed to teach her how to act like a girl. That asshole is lucky I could only get in eight nut-crushers before Pakku came," Zuko replied to Sokka, completely unapologetic.

Sokka started talking about how a nut-sack kick wasn't very ninja of Zuko.

"—but violence isn't the answer, you know!" Aang admonished very loudly, cutting into their conversation.

Those two were throwing off his speech and getting very distracted. They had gone off on a tangent and were talking about nut-crushers and whether they were okay or not. Sokka thought no as a general rule, but he was open to making exceptions for Hahn.

"You beating him up is going to make things _really difficult_ for Katara and me," Aang continued. "It doesn't help us at all. It could make everything worse, because we still have to train with him hanging around all the time. You're not going to be there to beat him up tomorrow, or the day after. This doesn't affect just you."

Zuko seemed bothered by this, and looked down at his hands.

"Hahn can make it bad for us. That is why I have been trying to be his friend. We need to make peace with him. Peace is just easier. And sometimes, if you want to make peace, you have to say things you don't mean."

It was just like how he had told a little white lie to smooth over the two fighting tribes at the canyon. Surely, Zuko could just say sorry, even if he didn't mean it. Saying it cost him nothing.

"You can't just beat up everyone who says something you don't like," Aang scolded. "Can you just apologise to him, for me?"

Zuko heaved a huge, exaggerated and exasperated sigh, and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Fine. I will do it. But I am only doing it for you." He said this like he was the most put-upon person in the world. "But he's still a dick!" he added hotly.

Sokka and Aang nodded in agreement.

"Poor Princess Yue is going to be stuck with him," Zuko added with a shake of his head.

"She might not have to marry him," Sokka piped up. He explained that, in the South, if you were bested so thoroughly, it would mean a loss of status. Women could break an engagement if the man failed to provide for her and protect her. Sokka was hoping the North was similar, and Yue's engagement to Hahn would magically evaporate.

"That's not how being royalty works, Sokka," Zuko said. "When you're royalty, you really don't get much of a choice in these things. Yue might not have a choice. You can't choose someone of a lesser…" he stopped himself from finishing the sentence as he saw Sokka's face.

"No, go on. You can say it. You don't think I'm worthy of a princess," Sokka said, sounding hurt.

"That's not what I meant! You'd be worthy, Sokka. You're worth more than ten of that assface put together."

"Wait, does that mean I'm ten times the assface?" Sokka asked.

"No! I'm trying to say something nice, you jerk!" Zuko snapped at Sokka, who looked faintly amused again.

"Saying something nice? You? Don't strain yourself," Sokka replied.

Aang knew this was sarcasm. The sarcasm engine was back on, evidently.

"I was trying to say you are a better man than Hahn will ever be, you complete assface," Zuko fired back.

Sokka seemed embarrassed, but also a little bit pleased. He gave Zuko a little shove. "Don't get soppy on me."

"You've been doing nothing but be soppy on me for a whole week now," Zuko said, and gave him a little shove back.

They had a little shoving competition until Zuko succeeded in pushing Sokka off the bed. After that, Aang had Zuko practise saying sorry, so he could fake it sincerely. It took a long time, mostly because of Zuko's tendency to roll his eyes before he said it.

"This is so stupid, Aang. Who wants a fake apology someone was forced to give?" Zuko said once, and Aang had no response for that. It was just how they did things up North. They liked a big fake apology up here.

They went to the council meeting. Hahn was sitting in the middle with the elders around him and on tiers behind him. Yue was sitting next to him. The healers had obviously seen to him, because he was completely unbruised. There was a large crowd. Arnook instructed Zuko to kneel. Zuko gave Aang a long-suffering look that said "I am only doing this for you, so you owe me big time!"

He knelt in the middle and looked at Hahn. "I'm sorry, Hahn," he said in a really good, fake-sincere voice, just like they had been practising! Aang felt proud.

"Are you? Because that didn't sound very serious. Try again," Hahn replied snidely, a gloating smile on his face.

Zuko glanced at Aang, supremely offended, and Aang nodded encouragingly and gave him a thumbs up.

"I'm sorry," Zuko said through gritted teeth this time, turning back to Hahn.

"I can't hear you!" Hahn crowed.

Arnook and Yue both made a face at him. Aang heard Yue say something like, "Try to be gracious Hahn," but he shook her off rudely.

"Uuurgh! Fine. I'm sorry!" Zuko shouted, getting very frustrated. It was worrying.

"I don't know. That's still not good enough," Hahn said with an unkind grin, clearly enjoying this too much.

Yue put her hand on his shoulder and gently said, "Hahn, I think you should stop this. He's already said sorry."

Hahn brushed her hand away and snapped, "Stay out of it, Yue! What would you know!"

There was collective gasp from the crowd. Arnook made an exceptionally unhappy face at Hahn.

"Don't talk to Yue that way!" Sokka exclaimed from next to Aang.

Now every single pair of eyes rounded on them.

 _Monkey feathers._ This apology was going even worse and more awkwardly than Katara's.

Aang felt a little embarrassed then with everyone looking at him and Sokka. What should he do? Should he do the little dance he always did when everyone was staring at him? Maybe. Before he could get his dance-pants on, Hahn coughed loudly to bring the attention back to himself.

"I'm waiting," he said gleefully to Zuko.

"Look, dickhead. I've apologised to you three times already. I didn't even roll my eyes, and I lowered my voice so it was sincere. I'm done apologising to you," Zuko growled as he stood back up.

Oh no. Zuko was getting really pissed off. His voice sounded just like it did before he exploded and did what Sokka called "the angry, grumpy thing".

"I'd still prefer it if you said sorry like you really mean it," Hahn commanded, and gestured for Zuko to kneel again.

Zuko ignored this. Yue actually rolled her eyes at Hahn at this point.

"You want me to say it like I mean it? Fine!" Zuko inhaled sharply.

 _Oh no. Here it comes!_ Aang thought to himself.

"I'm sorry you are such a hair-pulling, toad-faced, hedgehog-buggering fuckwit with a _weirdly soft_ body. I'm sorry I didn't hit you harder in the face. I'm sorry for Princess Yue because she has to marry such a dickhead. There. I want you to know that I meant every word."

Aang slapped his forehead with his palm.

"Your apology is noted and accepted Prince Zuko of the Fire-Nation," Arnook said with a wave of his hand.

Huh? Arnook was going to let all that slide?

"But, Chief, he was _so rude_ to me!" Hahn turned around and whined at Arnook.

Arnook looked incredibly unimpressed. "And you were rude to him. I consider this matter an extremely foolish waste of time. I now declare it closed." He turned to address everyone. "With war clouds gathering, we do not have the time to be squabbling with each other. Fighting amongst ourselves is pointless. We must learn to work together or we will be torn apart."

Aang nodded in agreement. Working together and not fighting was just a better way of doing things. It was how the Air Nomads had always done everything.

Somebody got it!

-0-

The ice wall unexpectedly slid open to reveal Yugoda. Zuko looked up at her in surprise. The sun had long set. He had thought he wouldn't be allowed any visitors tonight, not after the council meeting. Yugoda explained that she had healed Hahn and had noticed that he was rather bruised after being slammed into the ice by Pakku. She had wanted to check on Zuko and had convinced the guard to let her in. This was much easier, because Sorak was her son and he was a good boy. He generally did what his mother said.

Zuko was a bit surprised that Sorak was her son. Yugoda once again reminded him that she had four of them running around the tribe, and scores of grandsons. Whenever Yugoda started a sentence with "Zuko, I have four sons", it meant that she was either about to give him some food or a big scolding.

The bruising was rather extensive. Pakku hadn't been gentle when he broke up their fight. But Zuko said he could take it, and it didn't even hurt that much. Yugoda rolled her eyes and tutted when he expressed this.

"You really bring this upon yourself, you know," she scolded as she placed the glowing healing water over the worst of it.

"I know."

"And it shocked me to hear you use such foul language in the council hall," she continued.

"Sorry, Yugoda." Zuko felt a little ashamed for using such bad language in front of her. He always tried to tone it down around her, and never swore in the healing house.

"But it did delight me to see Hahn get the wind taken out of his sails like that," Yugoda said suddenly.

Zuko's head snapped up in shock. There was a cheeky look in her eyes.

"What was it like to punch that odious fool?" Yugoda asked a little eagerly.

"Eeerrr, it felt good," Zuko said, unsure how to answer. He would have never in a million years thought she would ask him something like that.

"You still should not have done it though." She was back to scolding him again.

"Yugoda, I am getting a really mixed message right now. What do you want me to do?" Zuko asked her in confusion. She was scolding him for fighting Hahn while at the same time acting delighted that he had.

She hummed enigmatically, finishing the last of the healing, and stood up. "I want you to eat up. You are a growing boy." She reached into her bag of medical supplies and pulled out a pot full of arctic-trout.

-0-

Katara came a short time later. She threw her arms around Zuko and smiled at him the way she did when she was really pleased with him. He would have done it all over again just for that smile.

-0-

Lovely readers,

Amazingly enormous thanks to the wonderful Boogum for the beta. Also thanks for everyone who leaves me feedback and reviews! Feedback always puts me in the creative mood. This was a bit of a short and sweet chapter, but next chapter is much bigger. I just wanted to set a few balls in motion here.

Today, I'll mention:

The other side to the discrimination Katara could face.

Hahn as a foil for Sokka and Zuko

Pakku

Aang's beliefs

Zuko and Kuzon

Zuko and Katara, similar personalities.

So Katara is the first female waterbender in the Northern Water Tribe. It's hard being the first. The first woman to do anything considered male-dominated is normally subjected to much jeering and her femininity is called into question. Sadly the taunt that is frequently directed at these female trailblazers, to de-legitimised them, is often based on how sexually alluring they are.

When these boys say they don't fancy Katara as a wife, it is because they only see women having value if they fulfil that role. They cannot ascribe value to Katara outside that role, or see her as an equal. Her presence and the fact that she is better than them is threatening to them. So they taunt her with what they think is the most cutting insult, that she is not attractive to boys.

Girls would also be socialised into this view in the tribes, and would be discouraged from more masculine play, on the assumption that they would never find a husband if they didn't fit the idealised feminine role.

Katara has been trying to ignore them, and prove herself better, skill-wise, by handing their arses to them. However she can't do this to Hahn, because of his status and also because as a non-bender, they would not have any fights together, and she is not given the opportunity.

I normally think Katara would love to fight her own battles, and wouldn't appreciate a boy coming in and fighting them for her, but Zuko is doing something that she can't do herself. The fact that he would have validated her emotions (in hating on Hahn and finding him insufferable almost instantly) and yelled a lot about how awesome she was while kicking his butt would have warmed the cockles of her heart.

So Hahn is a bit of a foil for Sokka in the show. Hahn represents Sokka before he grew and learned and shook of his sexism. We can see them contrasted against each other and think, _wow, Sokka has come a long way._ Go Sokka. I thought it would be interesting if Zuko also got to learn something from Hahn, and that something is that _wow, was he dick to everyone on the Wani._ I think it would be good for Zuko's growth if he could recognise why Hahn's behaviour was so grating on everyone around him. He's had a moment of clarity about his past behaviour and he's better for it.

Pakku is also reflecting on his past behaviour, but I don't know if he has had his epiphany yet. He really did only let Katara learn, and not much else changed in the North. Katara is changing as much as she can, but she needs some of the men to back her up. Pakku is coming around, but he'll need a much bigger push before he can have a Zuko like moment of clarity (and realise he was a dick). It is harder too, because Pakku is so much older, and male superiority has become a deeply held belief for him. Sokka and Zuko are both teenagers who are intelligent and actively learning from the world around them. They both change and grow before our eyes. But Pakku has already grown-up into the person he is going to be, so shifting his attitude is harder.

I wanted briefly cover a belief of Aang's that could become an issue. Early on, while his beliefs are still evolving, Aang values peace over justice. He is someone who Martin Luther King Jr would say " prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice."

Aang is all about the absence of tension. To Aang, peace is people not fighting/shouting. Think about all the times he said/implied that Katara didn't mean her righteous anger. One of these was in her fake apology to Pakku – he tells Pakku that Katara doesn't mean what she's saying, when she very obviously does.

Aang wants to keep the peace (no shouting) but the cost is Katara's ability to learn water-bending (no justice). Aang is very anti-confrontation (same Aang!), but the ATLA world after 100 years of war is terribly unfair. Fairness is worth fighting for. Aang can fight for fairness peacefully, but he still has to make a stand instead of running away from the problem. Taking a stand would inevitably cause tension and ruffle a few feathers, but I hoped he would make peace with the fact that he can't make everybody happy, and be a better Avatar for it.

Zuko and Katara both fall on preferring the peace of justice side of the fence. They are not always wise about how they pursue this, but they are always well-intentioned and seek to remedy the problems they find. They are both very shouty forces to be reckoned with when they are presented with unfairness and injustice. I think both of them would at least try to see and do things Aang's way (they both try to apologise for him, more than because they are actually sorry), but inevitably a fake apology is something they would both struggle with.

And now a theory: Zuko is re-incarnated Kuzon.

Boo Roku/Sozin is Zuko's grandfather and that is why he is always conflicted plotline. Pah! Azula has the same two grand-daddies and she had leaned into the evil taste! Zuko is always conflicted because he has a fundamentally compassionate nature but was brought up in an abusive household where he was expected to behave diametrically opposite to his nature.

There was originally meant to be an episode about Kuzon where the headband was. Stupid Kuzon, having your episode replaced by the footloose travesty.

I actually think that Aang brings up Kuzon fairly frequently for a reason. I think the fact that he says to Zuko a few times "You remind me of Kuzon" means something. I think the fact that the names Zuko and Kuzon are nearly anagrams is also interesting. I also think the maths fits better – Kuzon lives til a ripe old age, then blammo – Zuko is born.

Yup, I think Zuko was meant to be re-incarnated Kuzon, and this would have dovetailed into Aang's realisation in the Roku/Sozin ep – friendships really do transcend lifetimes. I also think that episode should have shown Aang some of the things Kuzon was up to while he was frozen (for which I have so many ideas. Just imagine if Kuzon had spent extended time searching for his friend and it was his greatest regret that he couldn't find him.) It would make the spirit trip in that ep more meaningful and personal for Aang. It also makes more sense for Zuko, personality-wise that double-grandaddy conflict. I'll expand on this idea further if/when I get around to writing book 3. I just have so many headcanons about this, and I thought I would share this one here.

Next chapter Zuko will help Katara will show off her fighting skills, and those two will get much much closer. Until then my lovely readers.


	12. The kiss

After training together, Zuko and Katara lay on their backs on the grass near the pond. He had been explaining which northern stars he could use for navigation—they were different to the southern ones that were familiar to Katara—when a shooting star suddenly passed overhead. They had both been lucky enough to see it. Zuko mentioned the superstition about wishing upon a shooting star, which was common in the Fire Nation, and her eyes lit up.

"You know what I wish?" Katara said, turning to Zuko.

He wanted to hear her wish. He knew his wish was impossible, but maybe he could make hers come true. "What would you wish for?" he prompted, shifting to face her.

"That Pakku would let us fight during the day. How great would that be? Then I could properly show off how much I can do. He might even let me move up to Ice-bear Group."

"Why don't you ask him? You're his favourite. He might allow it now."

"I'm not his favourite," Katara said, frowning.

"He's always singing your praises to Yugoda. He wants to be your grandfather. He told her himself."

Didn't Katara know the way Pakku went on about her?

"Well, he can be now that I've fixed him," Katara mused out loud. "Gran Gran left him 'cause he was sexist, but she might take him back now if he were to go to the South Pole."

Zuko snorted in disbelief.

Yeah, Pakku had relented about women learning combat waterbending, but Katara was still the only girl student he was teaching, even though there were lots of other girls her age who could bend. Pakku still seemed like an unfair dick to Zuko. It was hard to just "fix" someone's views when they'd been believing the wrong thing for their whole life.

"I don't know," Zuko said. "He's still pretty sexist. I'm pretty sure the reason he never lets me train with your group is a sexist one."

"Why do you say that?" Katara asked, rolling onto her stomach. She was lying right next to him now and looking at him thoughtfully.

"He told me that us seeing each other would be inappropriate," Zuko said, meeting her gaze.

She wrinkled her nose in confusion. It was cute. Damnit, everything she did was either beautiful or incredible or adorable.

"Inappropriate?" she repeated.

"Pakku thinks we'll take one look at each other in the daylight and succumb to teenage hormones. He thinks we'll instantly start doing inappropriate shit, like making out in front of everyone or whatever," Zuko explained a little grumpily.

Pakku was such a dick. He just assumed Zuko would be the sort of person who would take advantage of a girl. He assumed that Katara was the sort of girl who was open to being taken advantage of. It really pissed Zuko off.

Katara looked alarmed and went bright red before looking away from him, back up to the sky. Zuko felt himself blushing.

Shit. Had he just made it sound like he wanted to kiss her in broad daylight?

He did, of course.

But he didn't want her to know!

Now he'd said it out loud and she _knew_!

She _knew,_ and that's why she was blushing and looking away. She was trying to figure out how to tell him no in a nice way. Oh no, maybe she was just going to feign deafness like she did whenever Aang tried to talk to her about his crush.

Damnit!

He was worse than Aang.

So obvious.

So stupid.

"I'd say to Pakku that just because a boy and girl train together doesn't mean they want to be boyfriend and girlfriend, you know. It's just training," Katara said nervously after a long moment, still not looking at him.

Zuko felt disappointment settle over him. It was a no. A gentle no. Her answer was a no, but that was okay. Being with her here, just as friends who trained together, was enough for him. They could never be together anyway, and he knew that. He knew it was stupid to feel the way he did about her. He tried his best not to feel it, but he couldn't help it.

She was still the most incredible girl he had ever met. She was so beautiful and smart and strong. But she was Water Tribe, and the war would always divide them. He had to go back to the Fire Nation one day. He could never bring Katara with him. There was no way that could ever work. He had nothing to offer her except _this_ : training with her in secret.

If this was the only way he could be useful to her and spend time with her, then so be it. He'd been trying to be the best training partner she'd ever had since this had started. He didn't want to make it awkward now. He didn't want to make Katara feel uncomfortable.

"Yes. Just training," he agreed with a shrug, hoping to indicate that he also thought the possibility of them being more than training partners was ridiculous.

Katara nodded emphatically in agreement.

Zuko agreed again, glad the awkward moment was over.

He knew her answer now at least.

-0-

"Zuko, you will be training with Arctic Fox Group today!" Pakku ordered upon collecting him that morning with Sorak and Kuruk.

"That's Katara's group?" Zuko couldn't help but splutter.

Zuko knew Katara generally got her own way with Pakku, but wow, she had worked quickly!

"Don't remind me. My granddaughter and I had a conversation _very early_ this morning. I now believe she is ready to practice her skills against your fire."

"Sir?" Sorak said, sounding confused. "I didn't know Katara was your granddaughter."

Pakku actually went a little red. He looked around at the three of them, clearly mortified. "Silence, Sorak! Silence all of you! We will walk in silence!"

Katara and the rest of Arctic Fox Group were waiting on the middle tier when they arrived. She waved at him happily when she saw him. Zuko gave her a little wave back, feeling weirdly shy. He fought four guys before it was Katara's turn. He breezed through the fights, dispatching them quickly. The fourth one yielded almost straight away, which kind of annoyed Zuko a little. Make an effort, Bracelet Guy!

Then it was Katara's turn. She smiled widely as she bowed to him. They assumed the beginning stances and begun.

Zuko had now had hundreds of these fights with waterbenders, but this one was different. It wasn't like any fight he had ever had before. He wasn't trying to win—not at all. He was trying to give Katara as many openings and opportunities to show off her skills as possible. She thought Pakku might be ready to move her up a level again, and Zuko wanted to help her prove just how much she deserved it.

He knew her moves. He knew which ones she liked, which ones looked really cool, which ones were the most technical and which ones looked really simple but were ridiculously brutal. He knew how creative she was.

She knew how he moved as well and was taking full advantage of it. She seized each opportunity Zuko gave her and did something impressive with it. It wasn't as much a fight as it was a dance; both of them were bending circles around the other.

They fought for the longest time. The sun had moved across the sky. It was nearly lunchtime! Zuko was hungry. This was probably the longest bout he had ever fought, not just in the Northern Water Tribe, but in his whole life. A crowd had gathered, and they were cheering for Katara. Yugoda and the other healers had popped their head outs of the healing house. Aang and Sokka were there too. _We are certainly giving them a good show_ , Zuko thought.

Katara was enjoying exhibiting to everyone exactly what she could do. He could tell by her sly smile. She was so graceful, spinning and wheeling in the sunshine. She was really dancing with her element. Her body was so lithe and flexible as she made waves, whips and ice discs.

Zuko had never seen anything more beautiful.

He had never given up in any of these fights, not ever. He didn't want to give these jerks the satisfaction of admitting they had beaten him. But only one of them could win this. One of them had to yield. Fights went on until somebody yielded or if he went down for five seconds. Katara wasn't doing any moves that would injure him. He was never going to do anything that could actually hurt her either. Zuko had the advantage. The sun was at full strength. He could push it and overpower her. He knew where her blind spots were. But he already knew he wouldn't.

He wouldn't do that to Katara.

He knew how much gaining the respect of the other warriors meant to her. Everyone should respect her because she was wonderful, but they didn't here. She was working so hard to prove them all wrong. She spent every day trying to prove she was tough.

Agni above, did Zuko know how that felt.

He let her pin him down, ice shards holding him to the wall. She didn't freeze him there straight away. It was almost like she was waiting for him to melt the ice, but that only lasted for the briefest second. Then she was up in his space. Her face was so close. Zuko would have felt frozen to the spot even if she hadn't used all that ice.

"Do you yield?" she asked with a quirk of her eyebrow.

Zuko could do it, for her.

"I yield."

He was dimly aware of the cheers of the crowd and the sound of Yugoda laughing exceptionally loudly.

"Yes!" Sokka was crowing. "The Water Tribe is finally victorious over the Fire Nation!"

But Zuko couldn't focus on any of that, because Katara grinned triumphantly at him. Then she did a little victory dance. It was the dorkiest, most adorable thing he had ever seen. He couldn't understand how a girl could be both the fiercest force of nature and the sweetest thing ever.

Shit.

He had it bad.

He was worse than Sokka.

Would he start writing horrible haikus now?

Damnit! He was terrible at poetry.

Pakku was looking between them curiously as Katara was congratulated by the other benders in Arctic Fox Group. The old master frowned and stepped forward in front of the next student. "It occurs to me that I have never fought you either, Zuko," Pakku said, a challenge in his voice. "Shall we?"

He assumed the starting stance.

-0-

"Pakku, you horrid brute! You broke his wrist, and you know how long bones take me!" Yugoda swatted Pakku on his chest and sounded genuinely cross.

"It was an accident _,_ I swear!" Pakku spluttered. "I honestly thought he was paying attention to our fight, but the idiot boy was _horribly distracted_ by something."

Katara helped Zuko shuffle over to sit on the bed. One arm was dangling at a weird angle, and she was holding him up from the other side. He was leaning heavily on her, his hand gripping her shoulder tightly.

Yugoda scolded Pakku a final time before turning to her. "Katara, you come with me. I guess the upside is that I have yet to show you how to heal bones, so this is an ideal learning opportunity."

Katara followed and tried to concentrate as Yugoda collected the necessary supplies. She tried to focus—really, she did—but Zuko was hurt. She'd heard the sickening crack. She knew it was bad. She kept glancing at him. He was leaning against the wall, clutching his arm and breathing shallowly. Once Yugoda was finished, Katara rushed back to his side and took his other hand. Pakku had already left.

Yugoda bustled over to him and placed her healing water over the break. "How does this feel?" she asked briskly.

"It hurts. It really fucking hurts," Zuko replied through clenched teeth, squeezing Katara's hand tightly. Katara squeezed back.

"Oh dear." Yugoda frowned, but this may have been about the swear word.

She turned to the things she had brought over and mixed a few powders together quickly with some water. She told Katara what they were and explained she was making a tonic that acted as a painkiller.

"Drink this." She handed a cup to Zuko.

He let go of Katara's hand and gulped it down quickly, but he reached for her again as soon as he handed the cup back to Yugoda.

"It's a real day of firsts for you, my lad. It's the first time you've yielded and the first time you've admitted something hurts," Yugoda observed conversationally, resuming her examination with her healing water. "This is going to take some time to heal, and you are going to need to rest it properly or I will never make you trout again."

There was a loud commotion from one of the other rooms in the healing house. Another Arctic Fox student had been sent up. It sounded serious.

"We can't begin bone realignment until the swelling is reduced, so keep your ice on the area until I return," Yugoda commanded before hurrying out to investigate.

 _At least it's an easy instruction_ , Katara thought ruefully. She knew bone healing was the most difficult, but when Yugoda had started explaining how to heal bones, Katara hadn't been able to focus on the older healer's words. She couldn't focus on anything else but Zuko. She held her ice to where Yugoda had indicated and hoped for the best.

"You are so beautiful," Zuko said while she did this, completely out of the blue.

Katara dropped her water all over the floor. "What?" she spluttered.

"It sucks that you don't want to be with me, but I get why." Zuko shrugged good-naturedly.

She gaped at him, wide-eyed. She had never expected he would just come out and say something like that—out loud with real words—and not get awkward about it. He wasn't sitting so rigidly any more, but was just flopping against the wall. He seemed ridiculously laid-back and relaxed, considering what he just said and how churned up he was making Katara's insides feel.

"But I never said that!" she responded. Who told him she didn't want to be with him?

"It's okay. Don't need to say it. You don't want me to be your boyfriend, even though I want to. That's okay. It doesn't have to be weird," he continued, sounding dazed.

She looked closer at him and realised his eyes looked strange. His pupils were huge. She could barely see any of the normal light-honey brown around the outside. It was like he was trying to look at her earnestly, but he was having a hard time focussing. She cupped his cheek with her palm to help centre his attention. He leaned into her touch affectionately.

"You want to be my boyfriend?" she breathed, feeling unsure and a little nervous. She definitely felt a little excited at the same time.

"So much." He nodded back at her.

She felt all fluttery in her belly. Was this really happening? She'd been daydreaming about it for so long, and now it was happening! He'd just said he wanted her as a girlfriend.

Honestly, this bit wasn't exactly how she dreamed it. In her dreams, he was never injured. They were somewhere more private, like the garden instead of the healing house. Impractically, there were often candles involved in her dreams (preferably those floating ones from the festival if they were going to be in the garden). Anyway, that didn't matter. She could live without the candles. He'd still said it and it still counted.

He also said he thought she didn't want him back, which was stupid. She adored him. She'd been pretty obvious about it, too. She had thought he was the one who didn't want her, especially after the way he had been talking last night.

Zuko had sounded so pissed off when he talked about Pakku assuming they would be together. Katara had been embarrassed. It was like he knew what she had been thinking for ages now and he had dismissed it. She had assumed that was his awkward Zuko way of trying to let her down gently. So she'd agreed, because she didn't want it to be _weird_ between them.

"I'm going to miss you tonight," he said after a brief moment of her just staring at him, open-mouthed in shock and adoration. He gestured to his wrist. "I can't fight now, so I'll be useless to you."

Oh no!

His wrist!

She swore a little under her breath. She'd completely forgotten about it! She'd been so bowled over by what he was saying that she hadn't been icing it. She tried to concentrate on the ice, but Zuko still wasn't done talking, and he was _very distracting._

"You know what's stupid?" he asked her suddenly.

She told him she didn't know, because she honestly had no idea what he was going to say next. What did Zuko think was stupid? Sokka was the predictable answer, but she had a feeling he was going to say something else. Nothing he'd said had been predictable in this conversation.

"This whole fucking, stupid war. It's pointless. Just for geography, Jeong Jeong said. I hate that we have to be enemies. I never want to be your enemy."

He seemed more agitated than he had been a moment ago. She kept one hand on the ice and reached out to rub his shoulder with the other. She had no idea why he was saying it, but he was right. The war was stupid. She didn't want to be his enemy either.

"Let's never be enemies then," she offered.

"Okay," he agreed readily, seeming pleased with this outcome.

There was a pause. He reached for her hand and interlaced their fingers.

"The war is so stupid." he said again. "We shouldn't be at war. We should be at peace. We should fill the world with ... love and kindness ... and other nice things, you know."

"That sounds really good," she replied, trying to copy his mild tone.

He smiled widely at her then, completely unguarded. "If there was peace, maybe we could be together."

He seemed suddenly mesmerised by the sight of their clasped hands. They'd held hands like this before and she had run away. This time she stood there, utterly transfixed. They both stared at their clasped hands for what would have been an awkwardly long time with anyone else. Her heart was pounding. She held her breath in anticipation.

Maybe.

Anything was possible.

"Fucking hell! My hand is massive next to yours. Look at the size of it! It's bigger than a tea tray!" Zuko suddenly exclaimed, ruining the moment and dropping her hand to stare at his palm. He wiggled his long fingers, then giggled.

Katara had never heard Zuko giggle in the entire time she had known him. It was alarming.

Yugoda bustled in at that moment. She checked Zuko's pulse and pupils and a few other things while he smiled at her vaguely.

"Hi, Yugoda," he said slowly.

"Hello, Zuko. How are you feeling?"

"Shiny," he said lazily, after a few moments of thought.

Yugoda looked amused by this. "Shiny, indeed."

"He's been acting _so weird,"_ Katara said, unable to keep her worry in any longer. "Is there something wrong with him? Aside from, you know, the obvious." She pointed to his wrist.

"It's a reaction to the painkiller. I mixed up a rather strong one, because we will have to realign the bone. He won't feel a thing now when we do that. Feeling, er, _shiny_ is completely normal."

"But he's been giggling and relaxing." Katara pointed at her friend with great alarm. That wasn't normal for Zuko.

"That's not an uncommon reaction. Strong painkillers like the one I used today make patients very relaxed and they have far less inhibitions. Often, they become very honest. Sometimes they even tell you what they really think of you, which I have always found enlightening at least."

"Yugoda?"

"Yes, Zuko?"

"I wish you had been my grandma instead of Her Most Royal Highness Fire Lady Ilah, Jewel of the Outer Islands, Tamer of Volcanoes, Dragon of the East, wife of Azulon, mother of Iroh and Ozai," Zuko said, as if he was proving Yugoda's point for her.

Yugoda smiled at this. Katara made a face. He called his grandma such a long title? Why? She knew his family was messed up, but _c'mon!_

"Why did you call your grandma _that_ and not grandma?" Katara grumbled.

"She was a very formal woman. She preferred being addressed by her official title. But she didn't like children. Children are meant to be seen and not heard," he said, trying to mimic his grandma's stern sounding voice.

He looked around and gestured them both closer with his good hand. "It's why I'm so sneaky," he whispered, like it was a giant secret. "I had to get around without making a single noise." Then he sat back up and looked at Yugoda. "And she never made me trout," he added sadly. He even pouted.

It was ridiculously cute, and it shouldn't have been. Katara didn't understand how someone could be both ludicrously handsome and give off a whole lot of badass "fight-me" vibes, yet at the same time be so adorable that you just wanted to take him home, wrap him in blankets, and make him trout.

"I'll make it for you tonight if you stay still for me," Yugoda said kindly.

Of course she would. No one could say _no_ to that face.

"Thanks, Grandma," Zuko agreed happily, unperturbed that he had just called Yugoda his grandma.

Yugoda gave her an instruction, but Katara didn't hear it at all. She was just staring at Zuko, her mind whirring. So he was more honest now? Interesting. She was very intrigued. It wasn't that she thought Zuko was a liar, but she had realised that he had been keeping a lot to himself. She could probably ask him anything and he'd just blurt out whatever he was thinking.

A hand came down on Katara's shoulder. "I can look after him from here, Katara," Yugoda said. "He's not going to be an ideal patient for you at the moment. It's better to learn bone healing when the patient is less _shiny._ "

Katara protested. She could stay. She wanted to stay. But she was ejected from the healing house and sent back down to Artic Fox Group. Pakku told her she had demonstrated enough skill to advance to Ice-bear Group. That had been what she had wanted at the start of the day.

She'd gotten her wish.

Katara lost her first five fights in Ice-bear Group. She was having a hard time focussing. She couldn't get Zuko out of her mind.

-0-

Zuko had woken up in the healing house with his wrist in a splint and only a vague memory of how he had got there. Yugoda had fed him copious amounts of trout. She said the calcium in the fish was good for healing bones and kept trying to get him to eat seconds ... and thirds ... and fourths.

Weirdly, she'd ruffled his hair affectionately a couple of times. Zuko liked Yugoda, but he didn't think they had a hair-ruffling relationship considering how much she was always muttering about how he drove her crazier than her four sons combined.

Sorak had walked him back, and Zuko had lit most of the candles in his room and was making them rise and fall with his breathing. He was feeling much clearer now. He was still meditating and trying to piece together what had happened earlier when Katara arrived. She melted a hole in his wall and came through gracefully.

"Hi," she said, giving him a nervous wave, which was strange. She was never nervous coming to see him.

"Hi. Is everything okay?" He was a bit concerned, but another part of him was happily surprised she was here. He hadn't been expecting her. They couldn't train tonight, and he was pretty sure Katara knew that.

"Everything is great," she said brightly, then sat down beside him on the bed in the circle of candles.

She looked lovely in the soft candlelight. Zuko felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked at her, and the candles stuttered a little in response.

"What are you doing?" She looked around at all the little flames, her cheeks darkening in the soft light. It was hard to tell if she was blushing.

"I'm trying to meditate to clear my head. It's still all foggy from this afternoon. I can't remember much."

"What do you remember from this afternoon?" she asked, tilting her head and looking at him strangely.

"Not much. I remember our fight, then I think I had to fight Pakku, then it's this huge blur. Did you get moved up into Ice-bear Group?"

"Yes," Katara replied, though she didn't seem happy about it.

Zuko felt confused. Moving up a level had been what she wanted.

"What do you mean it's a huge blur?" she asked abruptly, sounding a little annoyed.

"It's just _all foggy._ The only thing I remember clearly is Yugoda waking me up and then trying to feed me at least eighteen trout. She told me strictly no bending. Sorry," he added, "but I won't be able to help you train tonight."

Katara looked very disappointed. Zuko felt bad, like he'd let her down. They both loved training together. He knew she only really came to train with him, and he wasn't much use to her like this. He would do pretty much anything for Katara, but he wouldn't go against Yugoda. He drew the line there. Yugoda would really lose her nut with him if she knew Zuko had been training with a broken wrist.

"No, that's okay. I didn't come to train," Katara said softly.

"What did you come for?" he asked, feeling a little baffled.

He couldn't think of a single reason why she would come if it wasn't to train with him. She scooched even closer so she was sitting all up in his space. Zuko didn't mind since it was Katara, but she was _so close._

"Because I like you too," Katara said softly, and leaned even closer like she wanted to kiss him.

 _Huh?_

What the fuck was going on?

"What do you mean you like me?" he spluttered.

"I mean this."

Katara closed the distance between their faces. Their lips met softly. It made Zuko's heart race. He felt the candles leap up in response.

 _Fucking hell!_

Katara had kissed him.

He didn't pull away, and she seemed emboldened by this. For a moment he forgot himself, the world, the war and everything else except her. He pulled her closer with his good arm and opened his mouth to hers. She hummed a little in satisfaction when he did this, and Zuko felt buzzing against his lips.

She was kissing him, and now he was kissing her back. He'd wanted to kiss her for so long, but he'd never seriously thought it would happen. Zuko wasn't used to getting what he wanted and having good things happen. He wanted to just switch his brain off and enjoy it, but his mind had started whirring again with a cartload of anxiety about whether this was super-mega treason. He was thinking of all the reasons why they really and truly shouldn't be doing this. It took an extraordinary amount of will, but he pulled away slightly.

"We shouldn't," he said quietly.

"I know," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his.

Her hands were gently stroking his shoulders in a soothing manner. It felt so nice, and he couldn't repress the blissful sigh that escaped him.

"But I still really _like_ you," she said earnestly, adding strong inflection to the word "like".

"But you can't like me?" Zuko said, aware that it sounded like a question.

It was the craziest thing in the world. Katara was incredible. She could have anyone. She was always teasing him about being grumpy and moody. Just last night, she'd made it pretty clear that she only saw him as a friend.

"I do," she insisted, sounding a little frustrated. Then a hint of uncertainty crept into her voice. "Do you like me?"

"Yes."

Zuko couldn't have lied about this even if he'd wanted to. He'd never been able to hide how he felt properly, and Azula had always taken advantage of that. Zuko wanted to be with Katara more than he'd wanted anyone or anything in his life. But he knew he shouldn't. She deserved better. He had nothing to offer her. He was a prisoner of bloody war, for fuck's sake. It was impossible for them to be together.

"But we're on opposite sides of the war," he said, trying to reason with her.

She was a waterbender. He was a firebender. No matter how much he adored her, he couldn't change what he was.

"The war is stupid. You said so yourself," Katara said, moving back a little so she could look at his face properly.

"When did I say this?" he asked, wrinkling his nose in confusion.

He thought it. Of course he did. He couldn't have seen all the things he'd seen or done all the things he'd done with Katara, Sokka and Aang and come to any other conclusion. He thought it all the time. He hated the war, actually; it had made the world such a broken and angry place. But he didn't think he'd ever said this out loud, because that was super-mega-treason.

"This afternoon. Yugoda gave you something for the pain, and you got _all honest._ You said a whole bunch of stuff," Katara explained with an amused glint in her eye.

"What kind of stuff?" Zuko asked, feeling anxiety rise in his chest.

Fuck, what had he said while he was spaced out on Yugoda's potions?

"Just, you know, how beautiful you think I am and how much you wanted to be my boyfriend. You didn't want us to be enemies ever. The war is stupid and we need to fill the world with love and kindness ... also you went on for ages about how your hands are huge."

Nooooooooo!

Shit.

Fuck.

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!

"Fucking hell, just kill me now. This is so embarrassing!" Zuko groaned.

He used his huge hands to cover his face, knowing that he was going bright red from pure shame. He had _let it all hang out._ Now Katara knew everything and was probably going to laugh at him.

"No, it's not. It's just me. You don't have to be embarrassed." Her fingers came around his and tried to pull his hands off his face. "I came to tell you I feel the same, you big idiot."

He split his fingers to peek at her. She was smiling, clearly amused, but she wasn't laughing at him. Zuko drew his hands away to look at her properly, wondering how he had gotten so lucky.

She really wanted him, too?

"I never would have been brave enough to come here and kiss you if you hadn't said all that stuff this afternoon," Katara said, moving closer again with a decidedly mischievous look in her eye.

"Won't the northerners feed me to a pack of ice wolves or something if we start making out all the time?" Zuko offered, simply because he felt like he should make at least one more token protest before he gave in, especially after making such an idiot of himself.

"They don't need to know. Nobody needs to know. We've kept our training secret from everyone. We can keep _this_ secret too." Katara gestured between them.

"Okay."

He could keep _this_ secret if it meant he got to kiss Katara, hold her in his arms, and be with her a little. It was hopeless and stupid and pointless, because they could never have anything more than _secret,_ but he'd take it. He'd never been able to say no to Katara before, and he didn't see why this should be any different.

He reached for her and took her face between his hands. He just looked at her for a long moment before he kissed her lips gently. That long look and soft kiss was all the encouragement Katara needed. She made a happy noise and climbed onto his lap to get a better angle to kiss him. Their bodies were all pressed up against each other. Zuko was sure he had never been this close to another person, ever.

She started running her hand through his hair, and it felt so good. Zuko tried to copy her, but her hair was in that weird braid and he had no idea how to undo it. Instead, he ran his hands up and down her back, spreading warmth around. She liked that.

She made a happy little moan against his teeth when he did it and murmured, "That feels good."

Zuko felt a thrill run through him. He could make her feel good. He wondered what else she liked.

He set about finding out.

-0-

Lovely readers,

A huge thank you to Boogum for her amazing and wonderful beta skills. She is a gift! Also enormous thanks to everyone who gives me feedback. I do love reading all of your comments and thank you for taking the time to leave reviews.

In these notes I'm pretty much just going to ramble about the perfection that is Zuko and Katara. This chapter was pretty much all about them.

Confession: I love the greatest showman musical a lot, but especially the beautiful relationship between Zendaya and Zac Efron's characters. I saw them and thought instantly "It's anachronistic Victorian circus Zutara!" The song _re-write the stars_ was just the cherry on the top, because it would suit a Zutara romance very well. They are pulled apart by outside forces even though they want each other and are very compatible. They're from different worlds. They worry no one will accpet/understand their love. It's my jam.

Though in this chapter, I guess Katara would be the over-eager, optimistic Zac Efron, and Zuko would be the much more coy, acrobatic and pessimistic Zendaya. I think Zuko would be a little more reluctant to get into a romance, for a myriad of different reasons, however he would cave to Katara a lot quick than Anne Wheeler caved to Phillip Carlyle.

Anyway, they kissed in this chapter, and I hope you guys liked it and it was worth the wait. In my first few drafts it was really over the top romantic, with candles etc. Then I said to myself "Hold up, Em. These two dorks are the biggest dorks ever, and they would be very awkward about this."

It wouldn't be true to either of them if they became mega suave and flirtatious around each other. But I couldn't let go of some of the romantic elements. So there are shooting stars, wishes coming true, and a room full of candles (You know where Katara's brain went when she saw them. She would have been like _This is just how I daydreamed it_ ). But even with that romantic backdrop, it's still clumsy and uncertain – because these two are very awkward teenagers fumbling their way to each other. Best of both worlds.

I think Katara would be always the one to initiate a Zutara romance. Zuko is actually quite passive in his romantic interactions. Girls are always the ones who pursue him and he is normally completely baffled by it. He also has a hard time being himself around a girl in romantic situations (He really doesn't have to pretend to be a juggler for Jin, and he really doesn't have to be mr-I-hate-orange-and-the-world with Mai.) He wouldn't want to change Katara, but he already assumes that Katara would want him to be different – hence his thoughts about not being able to change being a firebender.

Zuko is not smooth, but neither is Katara. However, Katara is ballsy enough to initiate a kiss, if she's given some confirmation that Zuko feels the same way. I couldn't imagine him ever just saying how he feels though. So he had to be drugged, in order for him to drop some of his inhibitions and hangups and put his feelings out there. I shamelessly used the shameless, shameless drugged love confession/super honesty trope, and I regret nothing.

Yugoda kicked Katara out after seeing her glazed expression and saying to herself 'well this girl is not learning anything from me today. She's not hearing a word I say. She's just going to stand here, in the way, staring at her boyfriend adoringly and being useless.' In Pakku's defence, it really was an accident. Zuko was also just kind of staring at Katara and not fighting properly. He finds her distracting.

Anyway, I didn't want them to kiss in the healing hut, because that would have created a whole lot of awkward consent issues that I want well away from my two drama llamas. Consent issues are a staple of the canon ships. So they kiss properly when they are both of sound mind and body, after being very awkward with each other.

One of the things I love about both Zuko and Katara is how layered they both are. They are both mega-badasses, but they are also both very kind-hearted, compassionate sweet cinnamon rolls as well. There are facets to their personalities, and I think they would both have a better and more realistic view of each other than their canon partners.

Aang sees his idealised version of Katara, a mother/girlfriend figure. He doesn't see her fierceness, independence and bad-assery. Mai doesn't every really see Zuko at all, she has no idea who he is. She thinks he's a moody, world-hater. Zuko and Katara would get and accept the different parts of the other. So they both had a moment of like "wow, this person is an incredible badass, but they are also mega cute and a ridiculous dork."

Zuko's drugged ranting about the size of his hands is a shout out to Donna from that 70's show. "Oh my god – my hands are huge! They're like boxing gloves". Makes me chortle every time. But also, Zuko's hands are actually huge. Is this because they are often in the foreground of animation. Or is this a visual hint that he's a gangly teenage boy who is going to grow more into his body? Is this just because the animators liked giving him massive hands? We will never know.

Next Chapter Sokka will interrupt a 'training session'. Until then my lovelies.


	13. The spirit oasis

Yugoda came down to Zuko to finish healing his wrist, only to find him playing Pai Sho with young Aang. Well, trying to play Pai Sho. They were arguing over a tile when she arrived.

"I'm sure this is the boat," Aang said patiently. "See the triangle, that's the sail. This one can move three places sideways."

Wrong.

"No, that's the mountain tile," Zuko countered. "It can only land on top of other pieces."

Also wrong.

Tui and La, Iroh would be appalled that his favourite game, the very one they used as a code to communicate with, was being so decimated by his nephew! Though she had come to heal, Yugoda saw that there was a more pressing issue in front of her. She coughed meaningfully from the door and gently teased them both for being useless at Pai sho. Aang gave her the excuse of being in an iceberg for a century. Zuko gave her no excuse at all beyond not being very good at Pai Sho. This was an understatement. Yugoda offered to show them how all the tiles moved. Zuko gave her the chair and went to sit next to his friend on the bed.

She noticed pretty quickly that it was Pakku's set, and she was also sitting on Pakku's chair. Apparently, Aang had "borrowed" them from a room no one was using. He'd grown up in a temple where everyone disavowed having personal possession and everything was a common resource, so it wasn't like he intended to steal them. Still, Yugoda was going to enjoy herself immensely when she told Pakku that the lemur had been chewing on his peach tiles.

Yugoda hadn't really spent that much time with Aang. He never got injured, so he never came to the healing house. Pakku found Aang flighty and lazy, but Pakku always saw the worst in people. Yugoda liked him, though, this young Avatar. He was a very sweet boy, who seemed to be ridiculously friendly, energetic and positive at all times. Yugoda knew he was kind. Aang had visited Zuko each afternoon while his wrist healed.

Perhaps just hanging out with his light-hearted friend explained why Zuko had been so cheerful the last few days. Zuko was normally very resistant to the concept of resting, but he was in such an upbeat mood lately. Yugoda had found it _most unsettling._

Aang was watching her heal his friend, completely fascinated. Yugoda also thought well of anyone who was interested in healing.

"So, can you really heal anything?" Aang asked after a few moments.

"Almost anything," Yugoda answered.

She had been gifted by the spirits with exceptional skills. In her long career, there had only been a handful of people, like their dear princess, who she had not been able to help. Aang seemed genuinely curious. He was the Avatar. Perhaps it would do him good to know. Healing was just as important as what Pakku taught. Aang was not constricted by their tribal laws. She wondered if Arnook would allow him to learn healing, too.

"Would you be interested in learning?" she asked casually, not wanting to get her hopes up and get ahead of herself.

"Katara says I have to concentrate on getting better at waterbending first," Aang said sheepishly, then his eyes widened. He made an airball scooter, which blew around all the loose objects in the room. "Oh no, Katara! I was meant to get in some extra practice! I've got to go!"

He was out of the room quicker than a flash, saying bye to them over his shoulder.

"He's quite the whirlwind, isn't he?" Yugoda commented.

"He's a good kid," Zuko replied, his tone fond.

Yugoda examined where the break had been. It was completely healed. Zuko normally healed extremely rapidly, but this was fast even for him. She told him he'd be able to fight again tomorrow. He didn't seem happy with this news. He was frowning at the floor.

"Yugoda, can I ask you something?" he asked after a moment, not meeting her eyes.

She nodded. "Mmmm hhhhmmmm."

Zuko drew a deep breath and looked around the room for a moment before turning back to her. "If you can heal anything, could you heal this?" he asked, pointing at his scar.

Yugoda felt a little surprised. She'd been wondering if he would ever ask her about it. She had assumed that any teenage boy with a facial scar that big would obviously want it gone. She considered the jagged outline of it. It really was a very tragic mutilation, marring what would otherwise be a very handsome face. However, weeks had gone by without Zuko mentioning his scar, and she had thought it unlikely he ever would. She wondered what had brought on this sudden request.

"Perhaps. How did you get it?" Yugoda asked gently, though she already knew the details. It made her shudder to think of it. But she also knew talking about how it had happened would be essential to healing it.

Zuko looked abruptly away from her, and when he turned back his expression was guarded and closed off. "It happened a long time ago."

Ah, evidentially he wasn't ready to talk about it. Yugoda wouldn't push it today; there were still other things she could do to help.

"Does it cause you any pain now?" she asked, knowing a more neutral question might receive a more forthcoming answer.

"Sometimes it feels stiff and itchy."

That she could solve.

She cloaked her hand in glowing healing water. "I can fix that, if you'll permit me."

He inclined his head and she placed her healing water over the scar, examining it. She made a thoughtful noise.

"This is an old injury. To heal it entirely will be—"

"You can't fix it, can you?" he interjected quickly, sounding a little despondent. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"Zuko, you have just interrupted me. Let me finish. There is a deep spiritual pain here as well. There is so much negative energy caught up in this injury. It would be possible for me to heal it with some spirit water, but you would have to make peace with it first."

"How do I do that?" he asked.

"You have to let go of any negative emotions towards whatever caused this scar."

He snorted angrily and looked sullen. "I can't feel happy and positive about this. This is a mark of shame, Yugoda! Half my face is burned off!" he snapped, pointing furiously to his scar.

Yugoda didn't react straight away to this outburst, but waited until he'd taken a few breaths and calmed down. She had treated children like this before—children with cruel fathers, children who lashed out and never trusted anything. The few times in her life she had wished she knew combat waterbending were because of these children. She weighed her next words carefully.

"There is no shame here. All this scar tells me is that you are brave. It tells me there was someone in your past who was very cruel to you, and you have survived that. This scar is nothing to be ashamed of, Zuko."

H looked uncertainly back at her, and the expression on his face broke her heart.

"Whoever did this to you is the one who should feel shame," she added, trying to keep the anger from her voice.

She would have dearly liked to slap Firelord Ozai with every iceberg in the Northern Ocean in that particular moment, but she pushed the thought away. Violence only led to more violence, and this boy had already experienced far too much violence in his young years. What he really needed was more people to show him kindness and affection.

She pulled him into a warm hug. A solid, good grandma hug did a person the world of good. Grandma hugs would never appear in any healing scroll, but Yugoda believed in their effectiveness, nevertheless.

-0-

Katara felt the soft grass underneath her and the warm boy next her, and felt a reckless sort of contentment. She knew they shouldn't be doing this, but kissing Zuko made her too happy to care about _shouldn't_. She knew no one else would understand. They'd think it was wrong. But being with him felt so right. He made her feel safe and happy. It was fun to be with him. She didn't care what anyone else thought. She was keeping Zuko.

In truth, not much had changed from before when they used to sneak up here to train. They'd been sneaking out the last few nights, but mostly so they could spend a great deal of time lying on the grass and making out. They'd been a little shy with each other at the start. Zuko was such a big lummox. The first time she'd tried to kiss him in the garden had been ridiculously awkward because of their height difference and Zuko's complete inability to pick up what she was subtly hinting at. In the end, she'd had to flat out ask him to bend down so she could kiss him.

Every night they got a little bolder, a little more confident with each other and their secret thing. But Zuko had been in a bit of a funny mood tonight. He seemed really pensive and lost in thought. She was worried. She shifted her body and pulled away a little so she could see his face. She asked him if something was bothering him.

"Nothing. I'm fine," he said repressively, but she knew it was a lie.

He couldn't lie to save himself. She could tell something was wrong. He didn't seem to want to talk about it at all. Instead, he moved towards her again, kissing her neck the way she liked. He was wily, but Katara wasn't going to let herself be distracted that easily.

She ran her fingers through his hair before wrapping her arms around him and rolling them over. She was on top now and made sure he had to look her in the eyes from this new angle.

"You can tell me, you know," she whispered insistently. "You can tell me anything."

She knew he was upset about something. She wanted to help. She wanted him to trust her enough to tell her whatever it was. Zuko gazed up at her, and there was such longing and sadness in his eyes that it nearly took her breath away.

"Fine," he grumbled, looking a little uncertain.

Her heart lifted in her chest. Rather than getting grumpy and refusing to talk about it, he was opening up to her. She held her breath.

"Aang was over when Yugoda came around, and he just mentioned that she could heal anything. I thought, you know, Aang's right. _She can._ She's always been able to patch me up pretty quick, and I just..." Zuko trailed off here and looked at the ice walls around the garden.

Katara wracked her brain, trying to figure out what Yugoda could have done that would have made him this out of sorts. Zuko liked Yugoda. It was mutual. He teased Katara about how Pakku wanted to adopt her, but Yugoda was so obvious about the fact that Zuko was her favourite. The old healer had been ruffling his hair and feeding him treats ever since he'd called her Grandma, like she was auditioning for the role.

"I asked her if she could heal this," Zuko confessed, taking Katara's hand and placing it over his scar.

Oh.

His strange mood made a bit more sense now.

He never really talked about his scar with them. Everything she knew was from Sokka or Chey or Jeong Jeong. She hadn't wanted to bring it up, because she knew it was something that he would be extremely sensitive about. She'd never deliberately touched it either for the same reason. She been waiting for an invitation, permission, some acknowledgement that it was okay for her to do that. Now he'd done just that. He'd placed her hand on it and started talking to her about something she knew would be painful for him.

"What did she say?"

Katara tenderly felt the ridges of the raised, tight skin underneath her palm. She wished more than anything that she was further along in her healing training so she could make it better. But if Yugoda couldn't do it, Katara didn't know if it would be possible.

"She says she can, but I have to make peace with how I got it." Zuko tried to keep his tone even, but his expression changed abruptly and he added bitterly, "But she may as well have just said no, it's impossible."

"But she can—"

"I don't know if I'll ever be okay with what happened," he said with this horrible, harsh finality. Then he looked away, a little guilty, like he thought he'd been caught doing something wrong.

Katara didn't think there was anything wrong with him being angry about what his dad had done to him. It was horrible and cruel and unfair. He should be angry. She was.

"I think if you're not okay with it, then that's fine. What your father did to you was awful. You don't have to be okay with it," she said firmly. "You shouldn't have to forgive him to make peace with it."

"I'm not angry at him."

Katara didn't believe that for a second, but she didn't interrupt him.

"I was angry at myself. I just always thought it was my fault. I've spent the last three years trying to figure out what the hell I did wrong and I've been trying to make up for it," he said so softly that she almost couldn't hear him.

Oh, Zuko.

It made her heart feel like it was very full, painfully full. She hadn't known it was possible to feel _this much_ for another person. It made her chest hurt from feeling this much. She couldn't keep holding all these feelings inside without some of them spilling out.

He still wasn't facing her, so she craned her neck to plant a soft kiss on his scar, under his eye. "It wasn't ever your fault," she said urgently as she kissed him again where his eyebrow would have been.

He went completely still, like she'd frozen him with ice. He didn't move away. He didn't seem to know how to react. He seemed to be holding his breath.

"Your dad never should have hurt you." A kiss on the edge of the scar near his nose. "You didn't do anything wrong." Now a kiss to the jagged edge lower on his cheek. "You deserved so much better," she whispered in his ear, then kissed the misshapen corner of it.

He turned back to look at her, astonishment and wonder in his eyes. _He's had so little love,_ she thought to herself. He was always so heartbreakingly confused whenever anyone said or did anything kind to him. It made her want to hold him close and never let go. She wanted to surround him with love and affection until he was no longer surprised by it.

"What are you doing?" he asked, sounding a little breathless.

"I'm kissing it better," Katara said simply.

Zuko made his snorty, disbelieving noise. Some of the coiled tension left his body as he exhaled. Then incredibly, improbably, a small, wry smile graced his lips. "I don't think that's a recognised healing technique," he said with a tilt of his good eyebrow.

"How about you let me try, since I am the healer out of the two of us," Katara sassed, and kissed his stubborn mouth again.

He kissed her back so passionately it made her a little dizzy. It wasn't their first kiss, not by a long shot. But it was special. She knew then how completely he trusted her. He'd trusted her enough to open up about this. He'd let her see this vulnerable, hurt side of himself that he always tried to hide with layers of grumpiness and sarcasm. She felt such a powerful wave of love for him then.

The conversation changed something between them. Katara had been holding back a little previously. Zuko had got it right that first night: they really shouldn't be doing this _._ She hadn't wanted to feel as strongly as she did. Sometimes it worried her how much she cared for him. She'd already made a big space for him in her heart and nothing was going to fill it if he ever went away.

She thought that if she held back a little, it wouldn't hurt as much if she had to give him up.

But that was stupid.

Zuko meant the world to her, and there didn't seem much point in pretending otherwise. He wasn't holding anything back with her. The least Katara could do was meet him in the middle. He told her his secrets; she also had things she had buried deep down inside her for so long. Things she was ashamed to admit. But if there was anyone in the world she could be honest with and open up to, it was Zuko.

During the following nights, under the cold stars, she finally said some of the truths that she'd never told another soul. She poured them into Zuko's warm, waiting hands. She told him how she really felt about her father leaving. She told him about the day her mother died, and how she had been there ... she had _seen._ She told him that she loved her bending, but being the last waterbender of her tribe was such a burden. She knew southern style had been different to what she was learning up in the North.

"But I have nothing," she said angrily. "Not even a waterbending scroll from my tribe."

He studied her face seriously while he ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it behind her ears in a way that she found oddly soothing. Zuko had finally figured out how to undo her braid last night, after trying for ages. Now his favourite thing seemed to be taking her hair out, running his fingers through it, and making it into a dishevelled mess.

"Anything I can do?" he asked softly.

"Not unless you can rewind the last hundred years," Katara said ruefully with a little shrug.

"I would if I could, you know. I just want you to be happy. Just tell me what would make you happy, and I'll do it."

He would, too. Katara knew they weren't just empty words. He'd always been honest with her.

It made it easier to be honest with him.

"You make me happy."

-0-

So this was what happy felt like.

Zuko was smiling all the time now. He knew that he was freaking Sokka and Aang out with his cheerfulness, but he didn't give a shit. Little things didn't bother him much anymore. When Pakku had burst in and angrily taken his good chair and Pai Sho table back, Zuko had smiled at the grumpy older warrior and apologised for the inconvenience of Aang's thievery. Pakku raised both eyebrows extremely high and asked if he was feeling alright. Zuko answered that he was feeling great and tried to make friendly conversation with Pakku. This clearly bamboozled Pakku and made him uncomfortable. The old warrior retreated quite quickly.

Katara had been his secret girlfriend for two weeks, and they were the two best weeks of Zuko's life.

She made him happy.

Even weirder, she said _he_ made her happy too.

Everything was great.

For once.

The paranoid part of him whispered that this wouldn't last.

Something bad was going to happen.

It always did.

Things changed again one night. They had been practising close-quarters fighting. It had been Zuko's idea. Both their bending was quite dynamic, needing whole body movements to bend effectively. Waterbending especially relied on arm movements. If some asshole ever got close to her and stopped her from moving her arms, she'd have a hard time getting them off. Katara had even less hand-to-hand combat knowledge than Sokka. It made Zuko stupidly worried. He wasn't always going to be around to make sure no assholes ever got up in her space.

He was going to go home.

At some point.

Eventually.

That was _definitely_ still his rough plan.

He had started trying to show her how to break various locks and holds. She seemed amused by his insistence that he teach her hand-to-hand combat. She seemed to think he had some ulterior motive. She thought he was just using wrestling with her as an excuse to feel her up. She actually seemed delighted by this, even though Zuko had never had any kind of sneaky, groping plan at all. He had sincerely wanted to show her how to throw a jerk over her shoulder. He was willing to be the jerk she practised on.

What followed was very frustrating.

Katara was incorrigible.

She was the one with the sneaky, groping plan.

She said she was trying to make him feel relaxed and made a few comments about how tense he was. She had taken to feeling him up while he was sincerely trying to teach her. This was the thing making Zuko tense! His body was having a big reaction to her. He was propping himself up in full plank pose so their bodies weren't all squished together and hoping she wouldn't notice.

He was trying to think of unappealing things, like Sokka's smelly socks or his uncle's annoying tea obsession, and mentally willing his reaction to calm down. Meanwhile, Katara was making that difficult. Her hands were roaming _everywhere_ and it felt _nice._ Zuko wasn't going to say he didn't _enjoy it_ , but he really wanted to teach her something and she wasn't paying any attention, and she was making it really hard for him to concentrate, and this was important!

"Katara, I'm actually serious. I don't want anyone else on top of you but me!" Zuko growled at her after at least twenty minutes of this nonsense.

She made a displeased face at him. Zuko realised how possessive and creepy he'd just sounded. He'd heard many of Katara's rants about how she disliked how possessive the Northern men were of their women.

Shit.

She was probably pissed off at him now.

"But I would only be on top of you if you wanted me there. I'd never be on top of you if you didn't want me there. I'd never force you," he started to say, trying to make it better.

In hindsight, this speech probably would have gone better if he hadn't been on top of her while she was making a pissed off face up at him. He just never wanted Katara to be in a position where some arsehole tried to … Agni, he couldn't even finish that thought without his blood boiling. He knew it was common in some of the Earth Kingdom cities. The thought of what those men did to vulnerable women sickened him. Not that Katara was vulnerable.

Oh no, was insisting on teaching her how to fight off sleazy, lecherous men sexist somehow?

"I was just thinking…" He tried to put all those thoughts into words. He rambled for a long time. He was hyperaware that he was trying too hard not to say anything that could come across as sexist. This led to weird analogies. His whole meandering ramble ended in a ridiculous explanation involving mantis-spiders.

"I wouldn't worry if we were both mantis-spiders, because girl spiders are bigger and can beat up the boy spiders ... well, they normally eat the boy spiders after they've ... shit. This was a bad choice of animal. I actually _would worry_ if we were both spiders."

These were actual words that came out of Zuko's mouth.

He was groaning inwardly and feeling horribly embarrassed, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from making it worse. Now he'd gone and brought up the possibility of Katara eating him, and he knew she hated allegations of cannibalism. Katara was lying on her back, still underneath him. She didn't look like she was cross at him anymore. She was gazing up at him looking both incredibly entertained and amazingly bemused.

"Not that I think you're going to eat me. I know the Water Tribe doesn't eat people," he finished, adding the awkward cherry on top of the embarrassing ice cream.

"Just show me how to do a hip escape again, you big lummox," Katara said patiently. She cupped his face with her hands, grinning widely at him as she said this, so Zuko knew she wasn't cross.

-0-

Sokka was having the most amazing night of his life with Yue. She wanted to spend time with him again. Just as friends, because she still didn't know what her father would decide about Hahn.

Arnook was trying to teach Hahn to be a good leader before he made any rash decisions. However, there was a chance he would change his mind about the engagement. It wouldn't be proper for them to do anything more than be friends until her father had decided, Yue said. But then she confessed that she had missed spending time with Sokka. She had hoped they could do an activity together again.

They'd been walking around the city and having amazing conversations for almost the entire night. Sokka had never been awake this late, he was sure of it, but he didn't want to go home just yet. Yue said she had moon duties to attend to, which sounded a little girly.

Whatever. He'd do girly things if it meant he got to spend more time with Yue. Doing girly things didn't make him any less of a man! He offered to help. Yue seemed delighted that he wanted to help her and led him to a part of the city he'd never been in before. Up behind the palace was an improbably temperate garden. Sokka gasped in amazement as he glimpsed the tree through the moongate.

What was this place?

"We call it the Spirit Oasis. It is the most sacred place in the tribe," Yue explained.

No person from outside the Northern Water Tribe had ever been inside. It was forbidden. Yue wanted to make an exception for Sokka, and she was sure Tui and La would understand. She wanted to show Sokka her favourite place in the whole city. There was a ritual that she was meant to do before she brought him into the sacred space, but just at that moment, he heard voices coming from inside the garden.

"Come on, let me up. I promise I'll pay attention _this time._ "

Katara?

"Nope. I already know that's a lie. I've shown you eight times. I'm not falling for this a ninth time. You've got to use your core muscles and shift your weight if you want to get me off."

Zuko?

He was asking Katara to get him off?

What the fuck?

He darted into the garden to see Zuko pinning Katara down while she struggled to throw him off. Sokka didn't care what the hell was happening or about how many questions he had when he saw that. He felt a blind madness overcome him. He needed to protect his sister. He bellowed "SNEAK ATTACK!" with great fury as he charged at Zuko like a raging mooselion.

Zuko always said yelling _sneak attack_ before you attack didn't work, but it clearly did in this case. Zuko looked up, mouth wide open in surprise, just a second before Sokka crash tackled him around the waist, sweeping him off Katara in one fluid motion. Their momentum and the angle Sokka had dived at caused them to roll down the little hill, legs all akimbo, and into the water around the little island.

Sokka surged upwards, splashing water everywhere, and looked around trying to see where the sister-molesting bastard was so he could punch him in the face. Zuko surfaced a short distance from him, hands up in a defensive pose.

Then, irony of ironies, Zuko told Sokka to calm down.

Sokka yelled that he was not going to be told to calm down by Zuko of all people, then started towards the other boy.

Suddenly, all the water around his waist was frozen solid, trapping him and Zuko a short distance from each other. Katara stood on the river bank, hands crossly on her hips. Yue had come to stand next to her and was mimicking her grumpy posture.

Yue said anyone from outside the tribe was forbidden to enter and she wanted to know what the other two had been doing here. There was a scolding tone to her voice that everyone recognised. Oh no! Would Yue be cross at Sokka for charging in without letting her perform her ritual? Damnit! That made Sokka even more pissed off at Zuko. He threw some choice insults at the other boy.

"Sokka, stop it! We can explain!" Katara yelled, cutting him off. "That wasn't what it looked like. Zuko was teaching me to escape different blocks and holds, not doing _that."_

Huh?

Sokka quickly reviewed what he had overheard. He looked between Zuko and Katara and sighed in an exaggerated fashion. Oh frozen hell, that did make more sense. He _knew_ these two idiots. They were his idiots. Such was his lot in life. Ill-advised, furtive training was exactly like these two. It made much more sense than the conclusion Sokka had jumped to. Except for one pertinent issue.

"Well, last time I checked, Zuko was meant to be locked in the council house strongroom," he said pointedly.

There were four of them here and _at least one of them_ definitely wasn't meant to be in the Spirit Oasis.

The other two exchanged a glance. It was a conspiratorial sort of glance that caused Sokka no end of worry.

"Zuko, explain!" Sokka commanded, interrupting their conspiring staring competition.

Zuko made a surprised face, like a penguin caught in a trap. His stupid honesty came in handy in situations like this. Katara was too sneaky for her own good and could think up bullshit on the fly. Zuko would give him an honest, perfunctory and probably brief explanation.

There was a brief pause as Zuko looked over Sokka's shoulder at Katara. Sokka just knew his sister was making elaborate hand gestures behind his back. Zuko made a confused face in response to whatever hand gestures she was making. He shrugged at her in an exaggerated fashion, clearly not understanding whatever she was trying to convey.

"Katara and I have been sneaking out and coming up here to train together most nights," Zuko said flatly as he turned back to Sokka.

"It's _just_ training, Sokka. Don't freak out. It was all my idea. Zuko's actually helping me learn waterbending, and we were doing hand-to-hand tonight."

These two, honestly!

It would have been Katara's idea. That also made sense. She had been too calm and accepting when Pakku had told her she couldn't see Zuko with Sokka and Aang. Sokka should have known she'd been planning something ridiculous. He should have known she'd never be able to leave her moon-eyed boy alone. Katara had never calmly accepted anything she considered unfair in her whole life.

Zuko was her accomplice in ridiculousness. This was why Zuko was the worst prisoner, really. He never stayed where he was meant to. Of course, he would have gone along with whatever Katara wanted without thinking of the consequences. If anyone else had found them, it would have been his neck, but Sokka was completely sure Zuko had not considered this.

If Sokka could tattoo one set of instructions on Zuko it would be this: _step one: THINK will this get me killed_ _before_ _doing the thing. Step two: Don't do the thing._

"Does anyone else know you guys have been doing this?" Sokka asked abruptly.

"No, I don't think so," Zuko said. "We've been careful."

Good. They should keep it that way.

"No one has ever come here, Sokka. This place is always empty," Katara said, sounding a little defensive. "What are you even doing here?"

"I am helping Yue with her moon duties," Sokka declared proudly. At least he hoped he still was. No moon duties had happened so far.

These two date-ruining idiots both had the gall to snort in disbelief at this proclamation.

"Moon duties. Fine, if that is what you want to call it," Katara sassed a bit cheekily. Everyone knew what she was insinuating.

Yue made an offended face at her. "I actually do have moon duties to attend to," she said primly, her cheeks flushing prettily. "This is the sacred Spirit Oasis of our tribe. I need to clear the energy. You three have all barged in here without being cleansed properly!"

Everyone said sorry. Being scolded by Yue was an interesting experience. She made you feel like you were completely in the wrong without saying much.

"It wouldn't be proper to kiss in the Spirit Oasis anyway," Yue sassed back, rounding on Katara in particular. "I wasn't bringing Sokka in here for that. I wouldn't want to bring the wrath of the spirits down upon him."

What now? _How_ had wrathful spirits become a part of their night? _Why_ had wrathful spirits become part of his night? Jeez, maybe someone should wake Aang so he could get his arse up here. He was good at spiritual stuff. They could make it a party in the Spirit Oasis.

Sokka hated dealing with spiritual mumbo-jumbo. He expressed some dismay at having to deal with wrathful spirits on top of reckless idiots. He could only tackle one problem at once!

Zuko piped up that maybe Sokka should think of multi-tasking.

The bastard.

There was some squabbling, which ended in Sokka declaring that he was going to feed Zuko to the wrathful spirit, and Zuko getting grumpy about the implication that he was going to die by being eaten.

"They aren't always wrathful," Yue said gently, placing her hand on Sokka's arm, which calmed him down. "They are the earthly embodiments of our scared spirits. Tui and La live in this oasis, watching everything. The legend says that they wanted to be a part of our world. They didn't come down here to eat people."

"The spirits are here, watching us _now?_ " Katara said, sounding a little alarmed.

"They are the koi fish." Yue pointed at the pond. "If you are cleansed and give them an offering, they will grant you a wish. However, if you displease them, you will be plagued by misfortune." There was a short silence that followed as that sunk in.

There really were actual spirits here, not the usual metaphorical, imaginary spirits?

Shit!

They had all barged in here without doing Yue's ritual.

Did that mean they would suffer three lots of misfortune?

Yue thought it would be best if they all went back out the moon gate and let her cleanse their energy, just in case. Sokka was down for this plan, but pointed out (very sarcastically) that it would be _amazing_ if Katara could _unfreeze_ the river so that both he and Zuko could finally climb out. She'd been so caught up in finding out the spirits had been watching her abscond with a firebender that she had forgotten about it.

Zuko and Sokka had not.

They had both noticed. They had a conversation with their eyes about their frozen situation. It had become a competition about who could put up with it the longest. Sokka knew the first one to mention it lost, but this competition was stupid and Zuko was probably cheating and Sokka didn't have any firebending to keep his gonads warm.

They all followed Yue back to the moon gate, feeling a little like a group of chastised toddlers who had been found with their fingers in the honeypot. Yue had left her little basket of supplies by the gate and pulled out three incense sticks and some spark rocks. Zuko offered to light them for her, and Yue looked gratified. She handed them over. Zuko squeezed the tip of each one, igniting it instantly. Yue had them waft the incense around their bodies as she said a blessing.

After that was done, she sent the other two packing with a very polite yet very stern tone of voice. She wasn't sending him away, so Sokka took the chance to stand by her side, hands on hips, and admonish his two idiots with her. Zuko and Katara kept shooting him offended faces as he shooed them away.

Be gone, idiots! But be careful while you're going! Don't get caught, but be gone faster!

Sokka thought those idiots had ruined his whole night with Yue, but she smiled at him and handed him her basket and beckoned him to follow her back into the oasis. They had to walk around the island with the incense. Then they swept the altar and placed some offerings there. Then Yue took his hand. They sat down together next to the pool with the fish.

These were meant to be the mighty and mystical spirits of the moon and ocean, huh?

They really just looked like ordinary fish to him.

Sokka didn't get spirit mumbo-jumbo at all.

"I like watching them when I'm finished. I think they look so pretty, the way they swim around each other," Yue explained. "The moon has already done me a big favour, so I never wanted to ask them for anything. Until I met you," she said softly.

"What would you ask them?"

"They say that the moon is very fond of lovers. It's why we say having the moon-eyes for someone. I was hoping, if we asked her nicely, she'd change my dad's mind about me marrying Hahn. Then maybe we could be together."

Frozen hell!

Yue still wanted to be with him!

He must have gaped at her in shock for an inappropriate amount of time.

"Can you hold my hand and ask her to help us?" Yue asked shyly after a long moment.

Of course, Sokka could.

-0-

"We have offended the spirits of my tribe!" Katara exclaimed once they were back in his room, waving her hands in enormous, distressed circles. "Now they are going to punish us with terrible misfortune!"

"Do we know for sure that they're not just decorative fish?" Zuko offered, trying to be the calm and logical one. It had never been his strong suit.

"Oh no, now you're doubting their powers! Don't do that!" She pointed at him emphatically. "There is no surer way to bring about a spirit's wrath!"

She was really freaking out. Zuko wasn't going to make the same mistake he had with Sokka and tell her to calm down. Being told to calm down never worked. That just made someone more irate, in Zuko's personal experience. Instead, he pulled her into his arms and held her close, rubbing her back the way she liked.

"They're not going to bring down their wrath on us," Zuko said, feeling a strange certainty.

If they were just ordinary koi fish, there was nothing to worry about. If they actually were the moon and ocean spirits (he doubted this very much), then he felt cautiously optimistic that it wasn't the worst thing in the world. He expressed this. Katara gave him a weird look.

"Yue said people get plagued with misfortune if they are displeased. I _used_ to be plagued by misfortune ... but since I've been with you ... everything has been good," he said, trying to keep his voice even, not quite understanding why he felt so hesitant.

He'd told her so many personal things. They weren't really secrets, because he hadn't been deliberately hiding them. They were just things that no one else other than Katara had ever cared to know about him. Sometimes he felt like she knew him best out of everyone in his life. She knew what he felt about his cousin's death and his mother's disappearance. He'd never talked about that with anyone else.

Saying this felt meaningful simply because it was a happy secret this time. Being with Katara had been the best thing that had ever happened to him. It felt right. It was like being with her was exactly where he should be. He knew no one back home would understand, but he felt like Katara was meant to be with him, and he was meant to be with her. He'd never felt this sure about anything else. Maybe, for once, the spirits were looking kindly on him.

"What are you saying?" she asked with a quirk of her eyebrow.

"Maybe they like us," Zuko said with a shrug.

It sounded daft when he said it out loud. But he still thought it was true. He knew what it felt like to feel that he had been cursed by the spirits. What went on between him and Katara in the garden was nothing like that. It didn't feel like a curse. It felt like a blessing.

"They don't seem to mind us being there. They've just been swimming around while we've been ... _you know._ " He made a gesture, trying to encompass fighting, kissing and chatting.

It ended up accidentally becoming a little obscene. Then Zuko blushed horribly, but Katara had smiled and stifled a giggle as she wrapped her arms around him.

"You really think they like us?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Eer. I still think they're just fish, but yeah. If they're really spirits, I think they don't mind us."

Katara looked thoughtfully at him before saying she still thought they should apologise to the spirits properly, maybe give them a belated offering.

That gave Zuko pause. He had nothing that really belonged to him anymore, save his knife. Even the clothes he wore on his back weren't his. He had nothing he could give the spirits. He was a prince without even a copper piece to his name. It made him embarrassed. But Katara knew that and didn't seem to mind. Her arms were still around him, holding him steady, waiting for his reply.

"Maybe not tonight. For all we know, Sokka and Yue have pinched our spot and are making out up there right now," Zuko said dryly.

Katara made a disgusted face. "Urgh. He's going to be even worse than usual tomorrow, isn't he?"

"Most definitely. I imagine there'll be lots of haikus," Zuko added, and was rewarded with an another amused smile.

Making fun of Sokka had been one of the first things they'd bonded over. Sokka was his friend, but that didn't mean that Zuko was blind to the fact that his friend could often be extremely ridiculous.

"I'm glad he knows, you know, about the training," Zuko said quietly, "but did you want to tell him about the rest of it?"

He hadn't imagined how much he'd care about what Sokka thought when the boy had first kidnapped him and Zuko had devoted a large portion of every day to annoying him. But Sokka's good opinion meant a lot to him. Zuko really hadn't liked some of the names Sokka had shouted at him tonight. Surely, Sokka didn't think Zuko would ever hurt a girl like that? Zuko hadn't liked hiding their relationship from Sokka and Aang. It felt a lot like lying.

He knew there were many logical reasons why he and Katara had to keep their relationship a secret, but when she had insisted it was "just training" to her brother, Zuko had felt a twinge of anxiety deep inside. It wasn't just training for him. Not anymore. The illogical part of his brain whispered to him in a voice that sounded like his sister, _she won't tell her family. She wants to keep you secret because she's ashamed of being with you. Who can blame her?_

Maybe Katara would agree, though. Sokka had taken the news of their secret training far better than Zuko had expected. Maybe Sokka would be fine with their secret relationship, too. Zuko looked hopefully at Katara for a moment. Maybe she'd say yes.

"No," Katara said shortly.

Zuko couldn't hide his offended expression and pulled away from her abruptly, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.

Her hand touched his shoulder. "You know him. He'll overreact, be impossible and get all up in our business."

It was true, but it still stung that Katara wanted to hide. Zuko still couldn't bring himself to look at her.

"Don't be like that," she said. "We'll tell him when we leave. I promise."

Zuko turned around and saw the sincerity in her gaze. "Really?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even, not wanting to get his hopes up but needing to believe that Katara wasn't ashamed of being with him.

"Three more levels and I'll be a master waterbender. Then I can train Aang on the road. We can all get out of here together. But let's keep it quiet while we are still here. Tui and La might like us, but I can't imagine anyone else in this place would understand. Okay?"

"Okay."

The thought of being with her and not having to hide it, to be able to hold her hand in the sunshine rather than only sneaking stolen moments by moonlight, made Zuko's heart lighter and fuller at the same time. It would make their relationship seem more real if Sokka and Aang knew. They were only together at night and Zuko sometimes half wondered if he was dreaming this. But she was willing to tell her brother about them. Maybe she wanted it to be properly real too.

He smiled at her then and she smiled back, reaching up to ruffle his hair affectionately. She really seemed to like running her hands through his shorter hair. Zuko had gotten used to her doing it. He'd gotten so used to her, he realised with a start. He was used to having her smile at him, like she was pleased to see him. He liked knowing that there was someone who was always happy to see him.

It had been so easy to be caught up in that smile.

But he knew, in his heart of hearts, that he couldn't keep her. He knew he couldn't keep this. He knew it had been a mistake, and they really shouldn't have started this, but it had happened now. He had never been very good at letting people close, but Katara had squeezed and squashed and melted her way past all the walls he built up. He'd let her in, and now he didn't think he'd ever be able to let her go.

He was well screwed there.

-0-

The next night they were extra careful as they crept up to the Spirit Oasis. They double-checked a couple of times. Yue and Sokka weren't canoodling anywhere in the vicinity. Thank goodness. They came closer to the pond and watched the fish swim around for a bit. Zuko said they still just looked like fish to him. Katara nudged him and shot him an admonishing look.

"Which one is the boy one and which one is the girl one?" he whispered at her out of nowhere.

"I don't know. They're spirits. Is there meant to be a boy one and girl one?"

"They're in the Northern Water Tribe. They always talk to the boys first up here. I don't want the boy fish to get pissed off at me if I get it wrong," he replied.

"I don't know if the moon is a boy or a girl. It's the moon."

What _was_ this conversation? Why were they arguing about fish genders?

"Our river spirit is a woman. The Painted Lady. So maybe the ocean is a woman, too?" Zuko offered, but it sounded like a blind guess. He didn't sound too sure of his theory.

"Everyone just says Tui and La. So Tui must be the boy. I'm guessing the black fish with the white spots," Katara said, also blindly guessing.

It was a fifty-fifty chance either way. Zuko looked at the fish for a few moments in confusion and she nudged him forward again. He was right about one thing. Boys always went first in the North.

"Tui and La, I apologise. I meant no disrespect by, eerr ... _you know_... in front of you with Katara. I really like Katara."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Please don't curse her with misfortune or anything like that," Zuko said awkwardly to the fish before shooting her a glance that said _happy now?_ His cheeks were tinged pink from embarrassment.

She slid her hand into his and stepped up beside him. "Tui and La, I am also sorry if we have caused any offence. I would like to thank you for giving us this beautiful place to practice in. Please accept our offering."

She held out her other hand to show the fish some papaya seeds before she turned to go and place them on the altar.

"Papaya seeds?" Zuko questioned.

"They're very exotic. I'm sure Tui and La have never been given the seeds for a tropical fruit before." Now she was the one feeling pink tinge her cheeks.

"Why did _you_ have papaya seeds?" Zuko asked with a knowing gaze as he squeezed her hand.

He was going to make her say it.

"I kind of like it now." she confessed in a small voice. "I kept some just in case I ever get the chance to grow it."

He flashed her a triumphant grin. "I told you papaya is the best."

"Don't look so pleased with yourself, you big lummox."

She gave him a wide smile and a playful shove, then took his hand and started to walk towards the exit. She was planning on kissing him all over his face for saying he really liked her, but she wasn't comfortable doing that in front of the spirits.

Goodness, they had been watching them the whole time! Katara didn't know how she felt about that. Could spirits be voyeuristic perverts? She glanced back at the pond.

She'd gone to apologise to Yue that morning about being disrespectful to her sacred space. Yue had actually been rather easy to talk to, and Katara had ending up asking her lots about the spirits and how best to apologise. Yue had answered all her questions and agreed that tropical fruit seeds were a good offering. She said it would make a nice change from love tokens for the spirits. Apparently, everybody asked the moon to bless their relationship.

Katara half wanted to run back and do the same, but she felt the warmth of the boy beside her and the solidity and rightness of her hand in his. Maybe Zuko was right. Maybe Tui and La had blessed them already.

-0-

Rambly notes:

One million, squillion thanks to Boogum for the beta! She's a brilliant and beautiful grammar unicorn. Also a thousand thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! Honestly, reviews and comments make me so happy. You guys make my day!

I'd like to ramble about

Zuko's scar

Intimacy in a Zutara relationship (both physical and emotional).

So, Zuko's scar. I have some thoughts, which mostly boil down to that poor kid! Some parts of the fandom want him to keep the scar, and don't like the idea of it being healed, because it is such a crucial part of his identity. The scar symbolises how far he has come, and becomes more of a mark of honour. It differentiates him drastically from his father. I do see this point, from a narrative perspective.

Realistically, a facial burn like that is such a huge burden to live with. Every time Zuko looks in the mirror, he'll be reminded of his trauma and the fact that his dad wanted to kill him when he was 13. The fact that Zuko thinks he deserved what his father did indicates to me that the Agni Kai wasn't a one-off act. It was culmination of years of abuse. Zuko has been conditioned to accept his Father's treatment.

Can I also just add _a pox on the idea that abused children need to forgive their worthless abusers to heal._ No, abused children need to forgive themselves (as they have been conditioned to blame themselves), and realise nothing warranted their treatment.

I wondered if healing it would have helped him overcome his trauma and negative self image more easily. (His abuse and his negative self-image are so intertwined, and it physically manifests in this huge facial scar and I can guarantee a fair few people would have reacted negatively to it, which would have only compounded his negative self-image and...gah! Poor kid.)

Anyway, I flip-flop between these two ideas. I decided to split the difference and at least give Zuko the option. Yugoda says it's not impossible, but it will take work. But Zuko has never been afraid of hard work. I just thought: let's give him some choice in this. Let him choose what he wants. Now, whichever side of the fence you fall on, you can feel satisfied.

Perhaps, one day, when Zuko is in his mid twenties and he's got the love of his people, the fire nation is under control, and he's surrounded by a loving family and he's had kids of his own and has realised he's definitely not his father - he'll be able to look in the mirror happily, and feel proud of himself and at peace with everything. At that point, he might decide that he doesn't want to live with the remnant of his father's hatred on his face any more and he'll take a trip up to the NWT to see his old grandma Yugoda. Or he might decide that Ozai has no power over him and feel properly and completely free of his father. Either way, at least he gets to _choose._

Sorry that Katara wasn't the first one to talk about healing his scar in this AU. Yugoda made more sense for me here. She is his faux grandma, after all. Also opening up about how he feels is a crucial step towards healing it. He can't do that with Yugoda, but he can spill his guts to Katara.

Yugoda deliberately tries to keep the anger from her voice in their conversation, because she knows anger is one of the worst ways to react when an abused kid tells you something heartbreaking. These kids often don't differentiate between righteous anger on their behalf, and anger that is going to hurt them. Staying calm and reassuring is a better strategy.

I guess that is why I had Katara just calmly and explicitly tell Zuko that it wasn't his fault while showing him affection. I've read a few fics where whoever ends up shouting at Zuko that he deserves better or that Ozai is a dick, etc. I also used this in my stalking series - but shouting at Zuko about his abuse isn't going to fix it. It's just going to make that kid clam up and not trust the shouter.

I actually think that the more Zuko was around the Gaang, the better he would feel about himself. Starting a relationship with Katara would have been the best thing to happen to him, but he also has really solid friendships with Sokka and Aang now. He has a better appreciation for his Uncle's love. He's even got a new grandma. It's hard to build self-worth from the ground up, and I think feeling loved and appreciated by others would have helped Zuko enormously. Like Iroh says, a little help from others goes a long way.

Previously he just kind of accepted scar as something he deserved, but as he has begun to feel happier, he would have wondered if maybe he could be free of it. He never asks Katara to heal it in canon – she offers. But now he had enough self-worth to ask for something like that for himself. Aang pointing out that Yugoda can heal _anything_ would have made a metaphorical light bulb go off in Zuko's head.

So, my drama llamas are a lot more handsy with each other in this chapter. Katara always struck me as someone who would be very openly physically affectionate with a romantic partner (and she is definitely the more handsy side of the zutara equation). Zuko was such a touch-starved and affection starved lil blueberry muffin at the start. I always think he'd let Katara take the lead, and as soon as Katara shows him that a certain touch is okay, he'd be all over it – _and he is._ I don't think he'd be like this with everyone – but Katara is one of the few people he trusts and she reciprocates his affection in spades when she sees he's equally as into it. Their physical affection would easily blossom from that dynamic in a positive cycle of mutual groping.

Don't get me wrong, Zuko is still awkward as fuck – but Katara gets that about him and is patient with him (as opposed to constantly belittling him like Mai). She would have still been internally saying to herself "This dork. This total lummox. What on earth is he saying about mantis spiders?" - but she rolls with it..

Lummox – So I see it as a super friendly insult for a tall, gangly awkward/goofy person. All the tall members of my family are referred to as lummoxes. And it kind of fits Zuko. He's tall. He's awkward. He's a lummox.

Katara would also be more in control of her feelings up to a point. Katara has the ability to cut people off emotionally – a skill which Zuko is nowhere near mastering. Katara can _ice-queen_ her own dad. Zuko craves Ozai's affection for so long after it is painfully obvious that his dad hates him. It actually hurts my heart to think about it. He doesn't even cut Azula off after she shoots him with lightning, for goodness sake.

Once he cares about someone, it's very hard for him to turn it off. (This is one of the only explanations for why he keeps ending up with Mai in canon – and isn't that tragic). I can see him getting to a point with Katara where he just would have gone "Fuck it, this is a mistake, but I'm all in." I could see Katara holding out for a little longer, but not by much.

Also now everyone knows the 'temperate garden' is really a sacred spirit oasis. Katara, who strikes me as a more spiritual and superstitious person, had a freak out about the fact that the spirits had been watching her _get it on_ with her boyfriend. But I kind of see Sokka and Zuko as both being a bit more sceptical of spiritual matters. I see Sokka as a ATLA version of a loud and proud atheist, (just look at his attitude in "the swamp".) Zuko would be more of your lowkey agnostic. Both of them are more grounded, realistic people who are perfectly willing to leave the spiritual shenanigans up to the Kataras and Aangs of the world.

So, Sokka was very distracted by Yue this chapter, but give him a moment ladies and gentleman. He's going to put two and two together and get his metaphorical bucket of water ready. I figured, in this situation he's been immediately pissed off, but then switch to logical Sokka mode, and be practical about the whole thing. Plus I was also tickled by the idea of Sokka playing the disapproving dad role for once. Zuko normally gets the grumpy dad label, to Sokka's cool uncle – but I thought a nice reversal would be fun. Sokka definitely had more fun than he should have when he was shooing them. He would have been an obnoxious shoo-er.

However, Sokka wasn't really the focus of this chapter. There is a bit about his developing relationship with Yue as well as some shameless exposition in his section. There is a bit of Sokka and Zuko's squabbling. (Zuko has been saving the multitasking dig since the Northern Air temple, and just waited for his chance).

This chapter was just sickly sweet goop. I guess after all the drama, I just wanted to let these two llamas have a little interlude where they were happy together...because I know what I have got planned for the future! Mwhahahaha!

For those of you worried – I haven't forgotten Aang, (I love that kid), but there wasn't much for him to do in this chapter. But he will be in the next one more! The Firenation Armada will be on the move and the Northern Water Tribe will receive a message from Ozai.

Dun dun dun!

Until then!


	14. Push and Pull

-0-

Aang's gut churned nervously.

The Northern spies had returned. They had brought back news that the Fire Nation Armada was on the move and coming north. They successfully made contact with the Fire Lord through messenger hawk. Apparently, Ozai had asked for proof-of-life that they really had Zuko. They needed Zuko to write a short note to his father. The messenger hawk they had brought back was staring at everyone dolefully, its feathers puffed up to a ridiculous level, clearly unused to the freezing cold.

The tribesmen were tense as they discussed strategies and plans. They asked Aang about his ability to go into the Avatar State, what his ideas were, and how he could protect them in the event of a Fire Nation attack. He was reminded abruptly of the Air Nomad elders forcing him to be the Avatar before his sixteenth birthday because they were scared of the Fire Nation.

He hadn't been there when they had needed him. The guilt ate at him. He wouldn't run away this time. He was going to make a difference this time.

He went down to see Zuko.

"Aang, what's wrong?" Zuko asked, standing up quickly.

Aw, monkey feathers. Aang had been trying to seem unworried because he didn't want to make Zuko worried, but he'd failed. Aang's anxiety must have shown plain on his face.

"The spies came back," Aang said, still feeling that same dread rising in his stomach. Everything was happening too fast. "The Fire Nation is on the move and your dad wants a handwritten note from you."

"Really?" Zuko wrinkled his nose.

"He doesn't think you're actually here and alive. The tribesmen are hoping your dad will cancel the invasion if we promise to give you back. So they need to prove you're here."

A bitter expression passed over Zuko's face. "Well, they are barking up the wrong tree there," he muttered darkly, then took the paper and inkbrush Aang offered and sat back down.

He wrote something short, then frowned at the page, scrunched it up and set it on fire. Aang gave him another sheet. He tried again. The letter was longer this time, but this one also ended up on fire. Zuko actually wrote eleven drafts (all of which ended up scrunched and burning). Aang had to go get new paper at one point, because he hadn't brought that many sheets. Eventually, Zuko handed his finished letter to Aang.

 _Father,_

 _I am here and alive._

 _Zuko_

"It's short," Aang couldn't help but comment.

Zuko made a grumpy face and reached to snatch the letter. Aang held it a little out of his grasp. It had taken eleven attempts to get this short missive and Aang didn't want it to end up on fire with the others. Still, as a letter, it was really brief. It was meant to reassure Ozai that Zuko was definitely here in the Northern Water Tribe.

"Are you sure there's enough detail?" Aang asked gently.

"It's my writing. I'll write the date and I'm sure they have a seal or something, so he knows it's coming from here."

Aang handed the note back. Zuko asked Aang the date. Aang told him.

"Shit!" Zuko said suddenly.

The outburst gave Aang a little shock. He looked at his friend curiously.

"It's nearly Katara's birthday." Zuko explained.

Oh yeah.

The Air Nomads didn't really do birthdays. They were all normally born in the same month and did a big group festival. Aang didn't understand birthdays, but he knew they were a big deal in the other nations. He'd been there for Kuzon's tenth birthday. He knew in the Fire Nation you got a dessert with candles on top. He had no idea what happened in the Water Tribes. Sokka had been asking Katara what she wanted to do this morning.

"Don't worry," Aang said brightly. "She says she doesn't want us to do anything because there's too much other stuff going on."

It had been a relief when Katara had said that. Aang had overheard Sokka talking about stewed sea-prunes. Aang could happily live his whole life never encountering that repulsive dish again.

Zuko wrote the extra bits on his letter and handed it over. Aang took it a little absentmindedly. They'd just have to wait for Ozai's response now.

 _I'll have to fight him one day, no matter what happens here,_ he thought as he folded the paper.

There it was again. That feeling of rising dread.

"Something else is bugging you," Zuko observed.

Aang nodded and took that as an invitation to sit down next to him on the bed with an expansive sigh. Pakku had taken his chair back, so there wasn't really anywhere else to sit. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Did you … you know … want to … talk … about it?" Zuko prompted.

Aang considered this. Would Zuko think he was a coward if Aang told him he was scared? Zuko was the only person Aang had told about being frightened of the Avatar State. He'd listened and seemed concerned then. Aang had so many worries that he was sure some were going to come spilling out of him, and maybe it was better to tell his grumpy friend. The monks always said sharing your negative thoughts brought them into the light to be cleansed. That was better than leaving worries to grow bigger in the dark.

Zuko didn't expect anything of him. He wasn't hoping that Aang would instantly master the Avatar State and be the solution to every problem. Aang couldn't ever say this to any of the Northern Water Tribesmen, who kept looking at him with anxious, hopeful eyes. Even Sokka and Katara thought Aang had the answer. He was just a dumb kid. He didn't have the answers.

"There's so many ships heading our way," Aang said, unable to hide his fear. "Even if they don't attack the North, they've come because of me. What happens here is my fault."

"No, Aang! It's not your fault. Don't think that. It's my dad's fleet and Zhao's orders. Whatever happens here will be on them," Zuko added, sounding a bit pissed off.

"I have a duty to restore balance. Balance can't be restored if the Water Tribes are wiped out. They want me to use the Avatar State, but I hate the Avatar State. It can hurt people so much, and I don't want to hurt anyone, but there'll be a battle and I can't think of a way around it."

"I don't know if there is a way around it," Zuko said quietly. "I'm sorry. The Fire Nation is coming. If there's one thing my nation is good at, it's war. They won't worry about hurting the Water Tribe people."

Aang wasn't sure why, but he had been hoping for something a little more comforting, encouraging and hopeful from Zuko. Aang made a face and replied that maybe he could use the Avatar State to stop the battle before anyone got hurt, trying to sound optimistic instead of worried. He failed in this. He ended up sounding panicked when he even mentioned the Avatar state. Zuko noticed.

"Are you worried about losing control in the Avatar State and just accidentally killing everyone?"

Aang nodded, feeling miserable. It was his deepest worry.

"Yeah. I'd be worried too. That would suck. Try not to do that," Zuko tried again with a rueful smile, and gave Aang what he seemed to think was an encouraging pat on his shoulder.

Spirits, this was worse! Aang kind of wanted Zuko to stop trying to cheer him up now.

"I'm scared," Aang confessed. This conversation was already so gloomy, it wasn't like saying it was going to bring the tone down any lower.

"You can be scared, Aang. Everyone's scared. I'm scared the second I'm no longer useful I'll be fed to an ice-wolf," Zuko confessed with a shrug, trying to act like the thought didn't bother him. "It's what you choose to do _after_ you know you're scared that really counts. You're a good kid." Zuko smiled gently at him here. "I'm sure you'll make the best choice you can. I know less people will get hurt with you as the Avatar."

Weirdly, that actually helped.

-0-

Katara turned fifteen just before the polar-bear dog moon. It felt a bit frivolous to celebrate her birthday when there was so much going on. The news that the Fire Nation armada was on the move had swept through the Northern Water Tribe and dampened any enthusiasm she normally felt about her birthday.

Fifteen was the year your parents were meant to give you your own set of bone needles, but she already had her mother's set. Pakku didn't know and he gave her a new set, exquisitely carved. She knew he meant well and she was touched by his thoughtfulness.

Sokka and Aang let her boss them around ridiculously. (Sokka had evidentially told Aang about this tradition.) Sokka also made sure the cook made her stewed sea prunes for dinner. That had been nice. They sang the birthday song and did birthday drumming together. They had to teach Aang the song and explain their customs.

Zuko had gotten her a little dessert. (Well, really he'd gotten Yugoda to make her a little dessert.) He'd given it to her with a candle sticking out of it. He explained about the Fire Nation tradition of blowing out candles and making a wish on your birthday. Katara smiled at him as she made her wish. She taught him the drumming song too. She liked hearing it sung in his raspy voice.

Then he told her that he had a present for her. He seemed super embarrassed here. He was blushing terribly as he asked her to close her eyes as he put something in her hands. She gasped when she realised what it was.

His "never give up without a fight" knife.

It was a lovely gift, really. It was such a beautiful knife, well-balanced and finely made. He'd gotten it just before he found out about his cousin dying. It was the only thing he had from his home. She didn't understand why he was giving it to her. He loved that knife. She felt weird taking it from him. It was just so … _his._

"I've got to give you _something,_ and this is all I have!" he grumbled at her.

He put it in her hand again. She tried to be more gracious about accepting it. It obviously meant a big deal to Zuko to give it to her.

She told him about her family's traditions. When you had a birthday, you were in charge and everyone had to do what you said. She said she liked this part of her birthday the best. She ordered him not to be grumpy at all on her birthday. Zuko seemed amused by this.

A sudden flash above them had caught her eye. She looked up and gasped. The spirit lights were shimmering in the air above them. Purples and green beams of light were gracefully dancing like parting curtains above their heads. It was beautiful. She couldn't think about training when something so stunning and fleeting was happening.

To have the lights shine on your birthday was a rare blessing.

They lay on their backs and watched the sky together. She reached for Zuko's hand, glad she could share this with him. He seemed amazed by the lights. In all his travels, he'd never seen anything like them. They happened in the South, but Katara had never seen the lights this bright or with this many colours. There was more than just green; she saw big streaks of purple and even a few flashes of red. She told him the different legends about them, and what the colours meant. It was sky spirits dancing, or fighting or falling in love.

Purple spirit lights were meant to be a good omen. Maybe they were here to tell Katara that everything would be alright. That was what she wished for, after all. Zuko looked thoughtful when she expressed this.

"Katara, can I ask you to do something for me?" he said softly, not looking at her.

"Anything."

"If I..." he started, but then trailed off. He seemed more uncertain than she'd seen him in a while.

She rolled onto her side to better see his face. He was still looking up at the lights, his gaze steadfast. He wouldn't turn to look at her. She waited.

"If things don't work out alright for me ... I mean, if I die here, can you find my uncle? Show him the knife I gave you and tell him that I'm sorry, and he was right about so many things, and I get it now—all his stupid proverbs. If you show him that knife, he'll know it's really a message from me."

Katara felt like her heart had turned into a solid lump of ice. She pushed the knife back into his hands rapidly, like it had burned her.

"Take it back," she hissed at him, but she wasn't sure whether she meant the knife or the words.

"I gave it to you." He tried to hand it back.

"I don't want it if you're only giving it to me because you think you're going to die here, you big lummox! So you need to keep it, okay. You're going to tell your uncle all of that yourself."

He looked offended. How could he just idly mention the possibility of dying here and expect her to react calmly?

This boy, honestly!

She knew he'd been out of sorts since he'd had to write a note to his dad, but now she was really worried. Had he spent all day dwelling on maudlin thoughts about not making it out of the North?

"Katara, I'm not trying to fight with you. I'm just being realistic," he said grumpily, breaking her birthday edict. "The armada is moving. There's going to come a point where I am no longer useful, and just in case—"

She rolled so she was on top of him and covered his mouth with her hand, not letting him finish that sentence.

Maybe Sokka was right. She was too much of an optimist. She had never entertained the thought that anything bad would happen to them. She held on to her hope like a lifeline. Despair was the enemy, just as much as the Fire Nation. You didn't invite despair in, sit with it and let it get comfortable in your spirit. In Katara's mind, it was going to be okay. They'd all make it through the battle, she'd master bending, and they would all leave safely together. She wouldn't allow any other outcome.

"Zuko, it's my birthday. Don't talk like this on my birthday. Please."

After a long moment, he nodded. She took her hand away. He looked like he wanted to say something in response, so she kissed him abruptly to stop more stupid, worried, birthday-ruining words.

"I'm going to be the best waterbender in this place," she said sternly. "If they want to hurt you, they'll have to go through me."

Then she kissed him again.

He was lying underneath her and his arms came around her, holding her tight. It felt a little weird to be kissing him in front of the fish now that she knew they were spirits. She and Zuko had been going back to the room to make out since Yue and Sokka had interrupted them. But at this moment, the need to kiss him had felt so urgent. She hoped the fish would understand.

She had always made fun of the northern men for being so possessive over their women, making them wear those necklaces, as if they had claimed their poor brides as their property. They acted like they owned them. She was ashamed to admit it to herself, and had never said it out loud, but she felt like she understood the urge now.

It was simple, really.

Zuko was _hers._

She protected what was hers.

-0-

Tui had always been fond of lovers. She liked to bless them if she could. She had lit the way to many a secret tryst. She liked to illuminate the moments a couple would spend, wandering idly hand-in-hand. She was the reason why the phrase moon-eyes had come into existence. It was meant to describe the way two young lovers would look at each other in the moonlight, though she knew now that most mortals used it to describe a fleeting crush on another.

La had always thought she was overly sentimental. He showed no preference to human people. He gave to them and he took away indiscriminately. _It's the only fair way_ , he said. The ocean had a reputation for being a cruel, generous and magnificent force all at the same time. He was always changing the face he showed to the world, just like her. One minute he was calm and still as glass, the next a raging hurricane.

Tui liked to watch love unfold. It was one of the few things that made the human world bearable.

So many had come to ask her to shine benevolently on their love. She knew that some couples had better chances than others. It was all about balance. She and La understood this well. The couple needed a flow, a push and pull between them.

Some couples did not fit, did not know how to give and take with each other. Some played roles as solid as the earth, one always giving and one always taking, never changing. They were never as happy as they could have been in the long run.

She watched the two on the grass curiously. She had been intrigued and entertained by them for some time. She found them fascinating and familiar. Perhaps she had shone on them before, in another lifetime. She was glad they had come back.

She saw the water girl with fire in her belly, using her bending like a blazing sword to fight unfairness. She saw the fire boy with water in his heart, wanting to soothe old hurts and hoping to heal a broken world. She had often thought they were the lucky ones. They had a balance between them that she rarely saw.

As she watched them tonight under the northern lights, she felt an odd sense of foreboding. There were many legends about the northern lights, but those lights had always meant one thing above all others: a change was coming. This change was arriving on an ill-wind. Tui felt like she caught wisps of smoke and sulphur on the breeze. No good could come of that.

The water girl and the fire boy were oblivious to it. Instead, they had become caught up in each other again.

They did not know the water girl had gotten it wrong when she thought the lights were an omen that everything would be well. The girl only saw the purple and ignored the flashes of red. The red in the lights foretold war and death.

Tui felt sure these two were saying goodbye and they didn't even know it.

-0-

Last night Pakku had gone seeking guidance from the spirits.

He had found not wisdom, but bitter truth.

His granddaughter had been _gallivanting_ with the firebender.

Pakku had seen them together! He had seen them slip out of the oasis, hand in hand. It was obviously not the first time they had snuck out at night together.

Pakku had felt a strange fury, but he reined it in.

He would let his anger freeze over into something hard and useful.

Katara had made him doubt many things about his life. Now she had proven that he had _always been right_ by frolicking with a firebender.

The Northern Way was better. Girls were governed by their emotions. They were irrational. They made poor choices. Pakku would have never chosen a boyfriend so inappropriate for his granddaughter. He wanted so much better for her. The boys in the tribe would come around. She belonged with someone in the Water Tribe so she could pass on her incredible bending genes.

When she emerged from the house she shared with her brother and friend the next morning, Pakku was waiting. He said he had something to show her and gestured for her to follow. He took her to the glacial walls on the western side of the town. There was a slight indentation in the wall beside a little supply canal.

He still remembered where the entrance had been, even after all this time. He had been the one to fill it in. It had been one of the first things Arnook had him upon becoming chief. Pakku suppressed a shudder as he opened it.

Long ago, the Northern Water Tribe had needed a strong deterrent to foreign visitors after the ice walls had first gone up. Arnook's grandfather had the benders create the Frozen Pit. It was a deep, dark, freezing series of icy tunnels in the glacial, western side of the city. It was where they put foreigners who strayed into their waters. Often they had just been poor Earth Kingdom traders or Fire Nation refugees fleeing Sozin's brutal regime.

The tradition had been to seal them into one of the tunnels and leave them. In the spring melt, the waterbenders would go in and see what was left. The cold, the hunger and the despair claimed most. But every now and then they had a horrid surprise. They just left the bodies, and the disrespect of that always rankled Pakku. Occasionally, he would enter the pit and find some poor souls, trapped for weeks on end, had resorted to eating the others to survive.

What kind of survival was it? Those poor souls were never the same afterwards. Wild-eyed, delirious and afraid, they shied away from Pakku in terror. The light of the Arctic sun would burn their eyes when they first emerged. Pakku and his team would take them in boats to the nearest Earth Kingdom port, instructing them to tell everyone what kind of reception was offered by the Northern Water Tribe.

It had been a very effective deterrent.

It wasn't long before no one strayed into their waters.

It was probably why the Fire Nation had assumed that cannibalism was acceptable in the Water Tribes.

Pakku had cleared out the bodies and given them a water burial before he sealed this place. He had tried to be respectful to their customs, but by that point he could not tell who was Fire Nation and who was Earth Kingdom. All had been stripped of their clothing by other unfortunates who had been trying to use the extra layers from the dead to keep warm.

Pakku felt that his inability to send them to their ancestors properly may have kept them here, their tormented spirits lurking in every cavern. The place was cursed. He had hoped he would never have cause to see this wretched place again. He and Arnook had vowed "no more" to each other. However, Arnook could be swayed. He had always listened to Pakku's advice. Pakku needed Katara to understand that he was completely serious.

There were consequences for her actions!

He loved her like a granddaughter. He wanted to protect her from herself. He needed her to follow his orders this time. He knew she was stubborn, almost wilful to a fault, and always determined to go her own way and make her own choices.

Pakku needed a strong deterrent. This was the strongest deterrent he knew.

He would be loath to follow through on this threat. He had no quarrel with Zuko. The lad was very Fire Nation, but it wasn't like he was doing it deliberately. Obstinate, heedless, unpredictable and determined was just the way Fire Nation people _were_ in Pakku's experience. He knew Iroh would be furious. Yugoda too, probably. She was inappropriately fond of the lad and had started treating him like he was her own grandson. But protecting Katara mattered more to Pakku than what they thought.

Pakku did not want to throw the lad in this desolate place, especially after Zuko had been so helpful, but he would if Katara forced his hand.

He took her inside and began to explain the history of the Frozen Pit to Katara in full detail. She looked horror-struck.

"Those poor people," she said, sounding appalled as she looked around the desolate main chamber.

"I was relieved when Arnook became chief. He has always been wise and kind. He saw the inhumanity of this and commanded I seal it up for all time. I had hoped to never be given cause to open it again."

"Why are you opening it now?" Katara asked, sounding worried.

"We are currently unsure what to do with the firebender now that the armada is on the move."

He watched Katara's face as the implication set in. She recoiled from him, looking up with wide, horrified eyes.

"You can't!" she gasped.

"The Fire Nation is coming. The time for war is upon us, and the time for training is over. He is no longer useful to me," Pakku said coldly. He wielded his words like icicles.

She looked at him, fury and anxiety warring on her face. He felt his desire to protect her like a solid weight in his stomach. Though she seemed so distressed, he resisted the urge to comfort her. He was doing this for her own good.

"Pakku! Don't do this. It's not fair. He's done everything you wanted. He's cooperating _. He's not the enemy!_ "

"Not the enemy? He's Fire Nation. Have you forgotten?"

"Please." She grabbed his arm. "There must be another solution."

It was like she thought he could be reasoned with on this matter, could be persuaded by a pair of sad eyes that reminded him of Kanna. It was because of Kanna that he was doing this. What would Kanna think if she knew he just let her granddaughter throw herself away on a firebender without doing everything he could to stop it? Pakku knew Kanna would approve of what he was about to do.

"I could be persuaded to advise Chief Arnook to leave him where he is if you do something for me," Pakku said slowly.

"Anything," Katara readily agreed.

"You must promise that you will stop all romantic ... association with him."

"We aren't..." she started to say nervously.

This enraged Pakku. He could forgive her falling victim to the folly of her own emotions. That was to be expected of a girl. But the disrespect of lying was too much.

"Do not lie to me, girl! I saw you two together last night! _I forbid you to see him!_ " he barked. "If you do not stop this foolishness, I will have no choice but to ensure this"—he pointed to the darkest tunnel—"is where they throw your boyfriend. Do you understand me?"

Katara's eyes were wild as she glanced around the tunnels. It was like she was searching for another solution, but there was none. Pakku would not be moved. He would not give her any other options. Give Katara an inch and she would run a mile with it. He knew this about her. He normally liked this about her.

Pakku gazed at her implacably. She met his eyes, and seemed to read the inexorable truth of her situation.

She looked heartbroken as she nodded. "I understand," she said in a rather forlorn and miserable voice.

They walked out of the tunnels in bitter silence. Pakku glanced at her and saw she was blinking back tears, resolutely trying not to cry.

He knew it would seem like the end of the world to her now to have to break up with her first boyfriend, but she was so young. She was only just fifteen. He remembered oh so clearly how it felt to be that age and in love.

He'd been so foolish in his youth. Kanna had driven him wild. She'd tried to persuade him to run away with her, and Pakku had honestly considered it. Old age had given him better sense.

Pakku told himself that Katara would eventually see the sense in this. She would understand that he was acting in her best interest when she got older and less foolish. Pakku felt like it had been a cruel lesson, and he was sorry to be the one to give it, but Katara needed to learn. Katara needed him to control her since she had proven that she could not control herself. He was sure Katara would forgive him, in time.

But time was not on their side today. The sight that greeted them upon their exit was even more ominous than Pakku's threat.

Black snow was falling all around them.

-o-

Lovely readers,

As always, an enormous thanks to Boogum for the beta. She's the most amazing unicorn in the valley. I have loved all your comments and reviews! Feedback keeps my creative engine running, so big thanks to everyone who took the time to let me know they enjoyed the last chapter.

In these notes I'll ramble about Aang and Zuko's relationship, birthdays in ATLA, the northern lights, and Pakku's growth.

So Aang is actually under a huge amount of pressure in the seige of the Northern Water Tribe. He's twelve, he's only just started water-bending. He's struggling with the Avatar state. Yet everyone expects him just to solve the problem.

But jeez, it's a huge ask for the poor kid.

I just wanted Aang to have someone he could confide in about how much his responsibilities freak him out. It's a little awkward for him to tell Sokka and Katara, because they had a very obvious vested interest in the outcome. I think he would choose to confide these things in Zuko. Zuko's communication with Aang, during the series, was quite sincere. Furthermore, I just think he would be a good listener for Aang's struggles. He encourages Aang to be more honest about his fears and responsibilities, and Aang in turn, feels like there is someone who is listening to him – and this can only be a good thing for his growth.

So ATLA takes place nearly over a year. I reckon everyone would have had a birthday at some point during ATLA. Sokka's was in the autumn, so he'll have to wait until after the comet. I think Katara, Zuko, Aang and Toph would have been born in their corresponding season. Powerful earthbenders are born in spring. Powerful firebenders are born in summer (though I think Zuko's birthday is late summer – for reasons I'll get into if I ever get around to writing season 3). Katara is born in mid-winter, the time for badass waterbenders.

I ascribe to the theory that Air Nomads engaged in big procreating solstice festivals* – but the result would be everyone would be born around the same time. This time would be around the autumn equinox. So I think the Air nomads would probably celebrate everyone's birthdays in a two-week long festival.

*Imagine Zuko's surprise when he finally steels himself to have "the talk" with Aang, only to find out group sex/orgies is what Aang perceives as normal.

I think the Water Tribes wouldn't do extravagant presents, as they are people of limited resources. Instead they would give practical gifts, and honour each year with a practical gift that the child would need, up until they reach the age of adulthood. I think these gifts would be gender segregated, eg hunting stuff for the boys, and housework stuff for the girls. So Katara gets her bone needles.

I think the Fire Nation would probably do birthday candles and individual gifts. We see when he is dating Mai that Zuko, other faults aside, is actually quite a generous boyfriend. Some of this comes from him being in a position of wealth and opulence during the relationship, but I also think generosity is in his nature. Zuko was willing to give that knife to a kid he had only just met when he had next to nothing, just so Lee would feel safe. It doesn't feel like a stretch that he would try to give the knife to Katara. I think he would have lost track of time a little bit, hence his surprise that her birthday is so soon.

He gives it to her because it's her birthday and he wants to give her something nice. But it really is the only thing his got. This would be one of the moments where the loss of his status would really bother him, because he really doesn't have two coppers to rub together at this point. He's a prince with a generous nature who can't spoil his girlfriend on her birthday, and that's gotta suck.

He also has an ulterior motive for giving the knife to her. He wants to know someone will tell his Uncle what happened to him, just in case. He doesn't want to just disappear on Iroh the way his mum disappeared on him. (He is confident that no matter what goes down, Katara is going to live through sheer stubbornness. He knows what a badass his girlfriend is). The movement of the armada has made Zuko re-examine how precarious his position is, when previously he had been lulled into a false sense of well-being because he was getting' some.

I think Zuko would be in a more pessimistic frame of mind after having to write to his dad and the realisation that he's on a ticking clock before he's deemed _no longer useful._ The request for a letter to his dad would have thrown him. Zuko would realise for the first time that he doesn't really have anything to say to his father; I mean anything that he would feel safe saying to his father. He can communicate quite freely with his Uncle, but he has never been able to talk to his father.

The northern lights are great! But I didn't want to call them that in this fic because I think they would happen in the south as well, just like we get the Aurora Australis sometimes. So I called them spirit-lights instead. I think this would have been a particularly amazing display. There are heaps of legends regarding the northern lights, but red is consistently interpreted as foretelling war and death.

Tui has been watching this whole time, and been very entertained. I haven't said anything was a metaphor for their love for a while, so I'll say it here. The fish are a metaphor for their love! I just really enjoy the balance, the push and pull, that was present in Zutara. They pushed each other to grow into better people. They pulled each other forward, and pulled each other up when the other was down. They grounded each other, supported each other and understood each other. Rather than being locked into stagnant roles, one giver and one taker, they had such a beautiful balance between them.

So the Frozen Pit is quite dark and spooky – and the origin of all cannibalistic rumours! Pakku's thought back when the Gaang first arrived about how glad he was that the tribe no longer imprisoned people was in reference to this place. The Northern Water Tribe has always been very unwelcoming to foreigners. I think that there is always a dark side to isolationist policies that dehumanises "other" people. In a war-torn world, full of refugees, (who are willing to walk across deserts, and other life threatening geographical obstacles) the Northern Water Tribe is actually an ideal refuge. Yet no one tries it. I think there was a very strong good reason for that.

So Pakku is not very supportive of Katara's relationship with Zuko here, but I honestly don't think he would be. They had to be explicitly forbidden from one another by someone, and Pakku was my guy for that! The Northern Water Tribe has had a policy of isolation for over 80 years. That does not make it the most welcoming place for an inter-racial relationship.

I think Pakku would be tolerant of people from other nations and feel compassion for them (eg. his deep regret about the frozen pit). However he does not want any foreigners marrying into his tribe/family. His threat against Zuko isn't anything personal. He doesn't have a problem with Zuko per-see, but he certainly has a problem with Katara dating outside the tribes, especially someone who is "the enemy". Like all white-lotus, Pakku is working towards maintaining balance, but I think he would see that balance as everyone staying in their own nations, rather than mixing. (Hey-hey, kinda like Bryke in the comics!)

Pakku is incredibly set in his ways and very inflexible in his thinking. He was willing to make sure Aang was never able to master either water-bending or the Avatar state just so he could maintain an extremely sexist custom and belief in male superiority.

He let Katara learn waterbending for very personal reasons, but he didn't let any other girls learn did he? The lead up to war would have been a great time for that sweeping change in gender roles, with women being taught to fight based on sheer practicality. There is a very real threat coming and logically, everyone knowing basic self defence would have been beneficial. But we don't see that.

I think Pakku developed a personal attachment to Katara, and she did make him question some of his values. However, shifting perceptions of a man _that age_ takes a lot, and Katara's got other shit to do. Pakku is going to have to do some of the growing on his own, and he is also going to have to have a solid mistake to learn from – rather than some nebulous realisation of the fact that he has been a dick to women for sixty years.

Pakku is very controlling here. He is used to being listened to and getting his own way. I think now that Pakku sees Katara as family, he would feel entitled to a say in who she dates. He honestly thinks he's doing the right thing, to "protect her from herself" here, and that is part of the problem. It does come from a place of love, but there is a hell of a lot of rigid ideas about gender and relationships in that place too.

Next chapter: Everything will change when the Fire Nation attacks!


	15. The Siege of the North

Sokka laughed in Hahn's face when he heard the plan and saw their ancient uniforms. Hahn refused to listen to Sokka. They got into a large argument. It was infuriating. Yue had dumped him, _again,_ just because her father had said this morning she had to marry that arsehole after all.

Sokka had joined Hahn's mission to prove to Yue through daring, tribe-saving heroics that he was a much better man than that arsehole would ever be. But instead of proving anything, Sokka had to listen to a truly stupid plan and then put up with that arsehole insulting his intelligence, as if Sokka was the one who had thought of the truly stupid plan!

If Hahn went on Zhao's cruiser dressed in that old uniform, he'd be spotted and killed straight away. Perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing, but the poor men who were following him did not deserve to be taken to their deaths just because Hahn was an imbecile.

"I came up with the plan with Chief Arnook and the only person who can tell me to change it is Chief Arnook!" Hahn yelled, once again lording his position over Sokka.

Hahn had been reinstated as successor that morning after the black snow. Arnook wanted to have some kind of succession plan in place in case the worst happened. Still, Arnook was a smart guy, and Sokka knew Arnook would have agreed with him if he was here. Right now, Arnook was with Pakku and the benders. Could Sokka send for him? No, probably not. Arnook would not appreciate being interrupted in his war preparation because Sokka was squabbling with Hahn. Still, Sokka needed to convince this idiot that he was right. Or, failing that, the other men. Hahn gave into peer pressure, and if his men thought an idea was stupid, they might be able to sway him.

"If you don't believe me, why don't we ask Zuko?" Sokka shot back. "He was in the Fire Nation Navy. He'll tell you!"

Kuruk and some of the other benders were there as volunteers. Sokka knew they had an odd, begrudging respect for Zuko. Indeed, Kuruk chimed in and expressed that he thought it would be best to check with Zuko, just to be sure.

"Zuko's an honest lad," Kuruk said. "He'll settle it. We can't go dressed like this if it isn't a disguise, Hahn."

"Fine!" Hahn grumbled. "But make it quick."

Just like Sokka had suspected, when Hahn was challenged directly by the larger, older warrior, he faltered.

Kuruk came with Sokka to collect Zuko. Sokka may have ranted to Zuko about what an arsehole Hahn was for an extended period of time. Zuko was really quiet during the rant, and that struck Sokka as strange. Zuko normally loved bitching about Hahn. But this time he just listened to Sokka, looking pensive. He said, "That's rough, buddy" a few times, but it seemed like it was more from habit than because he was actually listening to the conversation.

The first smile Sokka got out of him was when Zuko saw Hahn dressed in the old uniform. Zuko looked Hahn up and down before telling him he looked ridiculous.

"It really was a crappy design, wasn't it?" Zuko wrinkled his nose as he gave the uniform a disdainful glance. "The navy had to stop using these because the shoulders were too big."

He walked over to Hahn and flicked the massive shoulder spike experimentally. It made a jolly sounding twang that felt a little out of place, echoing merrily in the war room. Zuko flicked it again. Sokka thought Zuko did this mostly to annoy Hahn. Hahn looked at Zuko with pure loathing. He'd never gotten over their fight and the way Zuko had humiliated him.

"What do you mean by too big?" Kuruk asked. He was in possession of a pair of enormous shoulders himself and sounded a little miffed.

"They caused accidents. People would get hit in the face all the time by the spikes of taller people, or they kept getting stuck going through doors and passages on the smaller ships."

"Really?" Sokka said.

"Yeah. Everyone had to walk around sideways like this," Zuko said flatly, and demonstrated.

"You're serious?" Sokka asked. He had assumed that Zuko was taking the piss out of Hahn, but if this was true, the hilarious mental image made Sokka smile widely at his friend. "Can you imagine if there was some kind of alarm and you needed all hands on deck? That would be the ultimate collision!"

Sokka laughed, picturing all the Fire Nation soldiers rushing and forgetting to walk sideways, then getting wedged in tunnels, ending up all stacked on top of each other in a messy heap. He visualised Hahn in the same situation, falling over gracelessly and getting stuck in narrow passageways. That image made him smile as well.

"That's why design got recalled," Zuko replied. "We haven't used these in eighty years. I've never seen one in real life. They're only in museums back home."

"Well, it's all we got. Will it work?" Hahn snapped petulantly.

"No, it won't work!" Zuko seemed annoyed at the question. "I just told you why, you bloody moron. Weren't you listening?"

Hahn looked indignant and was about to say something, but Kuruk cut in.

"What would work?" the older warrior asked.

"Not _this._ You'd be much better off concentrating on defending the city. Zhao's a dickhead, but a hundred ship strong armada isn't going to stop invading just because one dickhead dies."

"I argued the same," Kuruk said.

"Why aren't you in charge, Kuruk?" Zuko asked, sounding curious. "You're the best bender, save Pakku. Why are you being led by this hedgehog-buggering imbecile?" He pointed at Hahn.

"I will not be disrespected like this!" Hahn made an enraged face. "I'm not taking this from someone whose own father disowned him as a traitor." His eyes narrowed. "Your own dad doesn't even want you. He thinks you're a liar. Why should we listen to anything you have to say?"

Sokka gasped, ridiculously offended on Zuko's behalf. Hahn didn't fight fair. Hahn didn't get to bring shit like that up. Hahn shouldn't get to throw psychotic Ozai in Zuko's face during a stupid squabble about uniforms. It was a dirty, low blow. Dirtier than even being kicked in the gonads eight times.

"You're full of shit!" Zuko shouted, seeming very discombobulated by Hahn launching an Ozai-sized catapult into the conversation. "My father's reply couldn't have gotten here yet!"

Hahn pulled a piece of paper from out of his parka pocket. "It came this morning. I took it for safe keeping. I think you should read it."

He held it open just a little out of Zuko's reach. Zuko eyed the paper warily before he leaned forward to read the letter. Sokka could see the large Fire Nation seal. Zuko's eyes widened as he read; the hurt expression on his face was impossible to miss. Hahn just smirked in satisfaction, knowing he'd struck a blow without raising his hand.

"Fuck you!" Zuko shouted, noticing the dickhead's smirk, and lunged for him.

Hahn took an alarmed step back and dropped the letter. Zuko would've kicked the shit out of Hahn again if Kuruk hadn't grabbed Zuko around the waist and lifted him bodily over his huge shoulder.

"Leave it, Zuko," Kuruk said, turning and carrying him out. "Don't do anything stupid. Come with me now."

He wasn't really giving Zuko much of an option on the " _come with me"_ front. Zuko did his best to wriggle out of Kuruk's hold and get an angle to better yell at Hahn as he was carried out.

"I hope you get smacked with an iceberg and eaten by an ice-wolf, you slimy, sour-faced, lying, cowardly, whining, arrogant, shit-for-brains, pansy-arsed, hedgehog-buggering..."

They all heard the sound of Zuko shouts echoing up the hall, only dying away when Kuruk had walked a sufficient distance and turned a corner.

Sokka reached down and picked up the letter. It was fancy paper and had a huge, official-looking wax imprint of a signet ring at the bottom. The wax imprint had the Fire Nation crest and the words " _From the hand of Fire Lord Ozai"_ at the bottom. Sokka read the letter, feeling uneasy. He was touching something that had been touched by the biggest psychotic douche-bag in the world.

 _Chief Arnook,_

 _I offer you no cordial greetings and no respectful salutations._

 _I have been reliably informed by Admiral Zhao, who is leading the invasion, that my son is a liar, a traitor and a weakling. He has done some kind of deal with you and this is a ruse._

 _Tell Zuko that I will not fall for this transparent insult to my intelligence. He should have known I would never be moved to clemency on his behalf._

 _Feel free to keep my useless, worthless son and do what you will with him. Follow through on your threats, if you are man enough!_

 _This blatant disrespect shall be met with force._

 _That is all you savages understand._

 _Firelord Ozai_

Hahn snatched the letter back off Sokka. "Do you think your pet firebender is going to cry because his daddy hates him?"

"You really are an arsehole!" Sokka snapped.

Sokka hated this guy! He was normally pretty logical. He didn't often get angry like this. He was often disgruntled and sarcastic, but he was rarely this furious. He only ever felt this enraged when it involved Katara or Aang being hurt or threatened.

"I'm an arsehole who was right, though," Hahn pointed out. "We can't let an insult like this stand. We will have to execute him, after all! I reckon they'll drown him."

Sokka hated the way that dickhead smiled when he said that. That horrible anger was rising now.

"Hey, Sokka, do you want to hear a joke?"

Sokka glared daggers at him. This seemed to encourage Hahn.

"What do you call a firebender at the bottom of the ocean?" He paused for dramatic effect. "A good start! Geddit?" Hahn chuckled to himself.

"I'll good start you!" Sokka growled, right before crash-tackling that smug bastard to the floor.

-0-

This was it.

The Fire Nation was going to attack this place.

Everything would change when the Fire Nation attacked.

His life here was over!

Zuko was officially doomed now!

At least Zuko had been able to see Hahn look truly ridiculous in the old uniform before he was killed with an ice wolf.

Zuko had known, deep down, that there was no way in hell his father would negotiate for him. There it was, written in Ozai's neat handwriting and sealed with the official seal, the horrible truth of what his father really thought of him.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

His own father had tried to goad Arnook into killing him. The tribe had no real reason to keep him alive now.

Kuruk had grabbed Zuko before he could kick the crap out of Hahn. Zuko had struggled against the indignity of being carried like a sack of potatoes, but it was like wrestling with a slab of granite. Kuruk was a huge, stoic, quiet warrior, but he spared a few words for Zuko as he hauled him away from the planning room.

"Listen, kid, don't make it worse for yourself!" Kuruk huffed.

"How could it be bloody worse! I'm going to be killed by an ice wolf or an iceberg or however you do it up here!"

"Nothing has been decided about you yet, so calm down, okay."

Zuko didn't know if Kuruk was referring to whether they would execute him or _how_ they were going to do it. Either way, it didn't help.

Zuko could have burned Kuruk then. It would only take a quick fire blade between the shoulders, then he could escape. But Zuko would never. Even with everything at stake, he couldn't bring himself to do it. His dad had called him weak, after all, and maybe he was right.

He liked Kuruk. During training, the older man always reached out a hand to help Zuko up whenever he'd knocked him down. Kuruk called that common courtesy, even though he always used to add, "Next time I knock you down, you better _stay down,_ kid. That's just common sense."

It was crazy. He'd probably been a prisoner too long and had Stakolshu syndrome to even think nonsense like this, but he was going to miss Kuruk and Sorak and the simple routine he'd had here. He'd liked training with the warriors. He wouldn't be useful for training their warriors for war if the war was already here.

Zuko had never been especially optimistic about his chances of survival if he was still here when he was deemed no longer useful. He had been very lucky when he first arrived. He'd been granted a little more time, but that time was up.

He'd never even figured out how to escape this crappy room, because he was a stupid, foolish boy who never learned!

He felt like there hadn't been much need when Katara had started coming to break him out every night. He had just assumed that she would turn up if things ever went sideways for him. But he felt the sun moving across the sky and heard the rumbles of the bombardments. It had been hours and she hadn't come yet. Doubt gnawed at Zuko's stomach. He felt his panic rise.

He couldn't stop thinking one horrible and overwhelming thought: he was only sixteen years old. He didn't want to die.

If the Water Tribe won, they would kill him. Zuko was certain about that. His dad had insulted Arnook so badly and pretty much dared them to do it. If the Fire Nation won, and they found him here and found out he had been helping to train the warriors, that would be considered super-duper-mega-treason. They would execute him. If he managed to escape to the Earth Kingdom, the second anyone found out who he was, it would be like Makapu all over again.

Zuko weighed his options and realised they were all shit.

He was screwed!

It was late afternoon when Katara finally came, but by then Zuko had moved beyond panic. Katara wasn't much better. She really just clung onto him for a while. She didn't have a plan; she just wanted to get him up to the Spirit Oasis. Apparently, Sokka, Yue and Aang were there. She seemed ridiculously anxious about them being _seen,_ even though they had snuck up to the oasis nearly every night Zuko had been here without any issues.

When they got to the garden, they found Aang sitting cross-legged near the pond, while Sokka and Yue stood back a little bit. Aang looked like he was concentrating and didn't look up from his meditation, but Yue bowed and Sokka nodded at him.

"Sorry about earlier, with that arsehole," Sokka mumbled in reference to that terrible meeting with Hahn.

Zuko nodded back in acknowledgement, hoping that Sokka wouldn't bring up that awful letter and want to talk about it and shit. Zuko didn't want to get into a big, drippy feelings conversation with Sokka of all people. They would both be _useless_ at that.

Still, it was surprising to see Sokka here. He'd been going on the secret idiot's mission to prove something to Yue when Zuko had seen him this morning.

Had the idiots kicked him out of their club?

"I thought you were going on the secret mission?" Zuko asked Sokka.

"Nah, I was removed from the mission after I kicked Hahn in the gonads."

Hey, now!

Sokka had given him so much shit about kicking Hahn in the gonads eight times. Why was Sokka allowed to kick him in the gonads and Zuko wasn't?

"I thought you said nutsack kicks weren't cool?" Zuko observed.

"Yeah, well, I made an exception for that arsehole. No one gets to be _that rude_ to you but me!" Sokka said defensively, and seemed a bit embarrassed at being caught out saying something so weirdly protective.

"Don't get soppy on me," Zuko sassed.

"You don't get soppy on me!" Sokka grumbled, and gave him a little affectionate shove.

Zuko shoved him back. Katara rolled her eyes at them and tutted. For one brief second, it felt like old times.

"Guys, can you both stop talking!" Aang admonished, sounding very nervous. Zuko saw that he was wringing his hands together and his knuckles were white. "I need to concentrate get into the spirit world!"

Zuko glanced at Sokka, Katara and Yue.

Were they pressuring Aang to do this?

He knew Katara would never, not deliberately. He was sure Aang had never told her how much he hated going into the Avatar State. She would be mortified to think that she was forcing Aang to do something he didn't want to do. But she was scared. They all were. The Fire Nation was coming and they needed Aang to save them. Zuko wandered over and sat down next to him. Aang was jolted from his meditation and opened his eyes. He smiled when he realised it was Zuko.

"Zuko! I'm glad you're okay!" he said brightly.

"I'm okay. Are you okay?" Zuko asked, trying to keep his voice even.

"I'm great. I'm just trying to concentrate now, so if you wouldn't mind, I need some quiet."

Aang was always so cheerful and desperate not to cause offence. Even now, when he was trying to unleash godlike powers of destruction, he didn't want Zuko to feel like he was being told to shut up. The Avatar State was dangerous, though. The fact that Aang couldn't control it made it even more so. Zuko still remembered how horror-struck he'd felt when he saw Aang emerge on that waterspout, tattoos glowing and eyes empty. That had been the day they had first met, back in the South Pole. It felt like a lifetime ago. The Avatar State was pure devastation and cosmic rage channelled through Aang's tiny body, and Aang hated it. It seemed like no one was giving Aang any choice about this.

"Aang, do you want to do this?" Zuko asked, feeling like someone should at least _ask_ Aang what he wanted.

"I think I do," Aang said softly, but with determination. "There's over a hundred ships out there. There's too many of them for me to stop on my own with Appa."

Zuko knew he was right. One hundred Fire Navy ships against the Northern Water Tribe in the middle of winter was never going to end well for anyone.

This was madness.

His dad had that kind of madness in him. Ozai would have ordered this and not worried about the casualties on both sides.

Zuko felt so torn.

If Aang did go into the Avatar State, it would go so badly for the Fire Nation. Those poor people wouldn't stand a chance. A large bulk of them would be conscripted recruits on their national service. All of them would be missing sunshine and warmth and their families. They would have been cursing the snow, the cold and their luck. Zuko had felt the same the first time he'd come to the polar regions. Most of them didn't even want to be here. They were just following orders and their orders had led them here.

This desolate, icy place was where the Northern Water Tribe lived. _This was their home._ Now their home was under attack. He knew the warriors and they were all incredible fighters. They would battle to the bitter end to protect this place. The Water Tribe could hold out for a while, but if Aang couldn't go into the Avatar State, this city would fall to an onslaught of that magnitude.

The Northern Water Tribe had never asked to be attacked or invited the Fire Nation here. They'd kept behind their ice walls. They thought staying neutral would keep them safe. Zuko had been taught that they were horrible cowards for this. But they were just people. Some had been kind to him, and some had been awful, but that didn't make the Northern Water Tribe different from any other place he'd been.

Zuko didn't want any of his people to die, but he didn't want any of the Water Tribe citizens (with the exception of Hahn) to die either.

It was wrong. Everything about this stupid war was wrong.

Everyone expected Aang to channel the power of the spirits and sort this whole war out. What an impossible task! Aang couldn't just "fix it" on his own. He'd need help, but Zuko had no idea how to help him. He gave Aang what he hoped was an encouraging pat on his shoulder and stepped back to join Sokka and Katara.

"What did you say to him?" Katara whispered.

"I just asked him if he was okay with this. He told me the Avatar State scares him. He doesn't like going into it."

"Well, what is the other option here, buddy? _I am all ears._ If you have any bright ideas, now is the time," Sokka chimed in.

"I don't know!" Zuko snapped, forgetting to whisper. The others shushed him. He lowered his voice again. "I'm just saying ... are you sure it's a good idea to make him go into this super powerful, uncontrollable state?"

"The Avatar State is when he is closest to the spirits," Yue stated. "The spirits can help guide him. If the spirits will it, everything will be fine."

"Well, I'm sure that will make Aang feel all better when he loses control and accidentally kills us all with his powers. Just tell him it was the will of spirits _,_ " Zuko said sarcastically.

Yue made another offended face at him.

"He's not going to kill us!" Katara said, trying to sound soothing.

 _Yeah, not on purpose,_ Zuko thought, but the possibility was still there. Maybe Zuko was being over-dramatic, but it felt like everything and everyone was going to kill him tonight. Even his most cheerful and vegetarian friend was a murder risk.

"Guys, come on!" Aang admonished them from the pond. "A little quiet, please!"

They were all silent for a moment while Aang resumed concentrating. Suddenly, his tattoos started to glow and he slumped to the side like he'd passed out. Zuko hadn't been expecting that.

"Shit." Zuko rushed forward, reaching for Aang. "Is he okay?"

"Don't move his body!" Katara said quickly. "He's fine. He's just in the spirit world."

"You say that like it is a completely normal sentence! It's the spirit world! Does that mean he's dead?" Zuko yelled back. Someone being in the spirit world was the polite way of saying someone had died in the Fire Nation. Did Aang just die? Was it temporary?

"No. He's not dead," Katara explained. "He's fine. He just passes out when goes there to visit."

Passing out was the way to the spirit world? How many drunks had made it there by accident? Zuko made a worried face and grumbled about how the spirit world was a weird and dangerous place that was full of dead people, drunk people and monsters like Koh the face-stealer. That did not sound fine to Zuko.

"There's nothing weird or dangerous about the spirit world," Katara said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Says you! You've never been to that slimy, gross place. It's the worst!" Sokka interjected.

"You have?" Zuko asked, surprised. It sounded like Sokka was speaking from experience, but Sokka had never struck him as an especially spiritual person.

"Yes," Sokka replied, and made a disgusted face.

"It's slimy?" Zuko asked.

"Kinda, yeah. It's super unhygienic. You'd hate it."

"What were they like, the spirits?" Zuko asked, feeling curious.

"I'm not going to lie, most of the spirits were dicks. I'm glad our world is separate."

"I always figured they'd be massive dicks or totally useless," Zuko stated.

Yue made another offended face at him. In another life, Zuko would have been worried about offending royalty.

"Why do you say that?" the princess asked him curtly.

"Just look at this world. Either the spirits can't do anything to stop all this bad stuff ... or they can, but they don't give a shit about us," Zuko said with a shrug.

He knew Yue was really into the idea that the spirits were a force of good in the world. His mother had been the same. But it had become harder and harder for Zuko to just believe in the benevolent nature of the spirits. Yue looked a little sad and a little thoughtful when he said that.

There was a small, awkward silence that was broken by Sokka, who asked Yue to help him set up some booby-traps around the entrance. This was probably to show off his crazy inventing skills to his girlfriend. (Or not his girlfriend? Did they break up again? Whatever. Yue was the girl Sokka wanted to be his girlfriend. Zuko could never keep up with their love drama.) Zuko also reckoned it was to distract her from talking about the spirits. He knew Sokka agreed with him, but rather than chiming in with that and depressing his not-girlfriend further, he would try and cheer her up with stink-bombs. Zuko watched his friend leave and turned back to Katara.

This would be easier now that Sokka had gone. Sokka would try and talk him out of it. Sokka would confuse Zuko with his logic. Then he'd come up with an even crazier plan that would involve pineapples, or lassos, or something else equally bizarre. Zuko would let him, because he didn't want to do this either, but he didn't see another way.

He'd had the whole day to think of a plan, and he'd come to a horrible conclusion. The only way this day ended without Zuko under a shroud was by taking Aang to the Fire Nation.

There were channels and passages under the water. He'd seen them every night when he snuck up here with Katara. Zuko was sure some of them would lead outside the walls. There were one hundred ships out there. He had a fair chance some of them would be captained by honourable men. All he had to do was get Aang onto a big ship in front of witnesses. Then his banishment could be lifted and he could go home safely. He would pretend that he had been chasing Aang the whole time and had never even thought any super-mega-treason thoughts. Then he'd just have to wait for a distraction, which was bound to happen in the middle of battle, and he could get Aang off the ship through the ice tunnels and back into the tribe.

He knew it wasn't the best plan. It left a lot to chance. He'd have to lie a lot, and he was crap at that. Still, this was his best shot at surviving by far.

Sokka wasn't here. Aang had passed out. Right now, Zuko only had to convince Katara.

He turned to her and started to explain his idea.

"No! I won't let you!" Katara said, sounding shocked and appalled when he'd finished.

Zuko took a step back in horrified surprise. He had thought Katara would be on his side. She was his girlfriend. She should want him to live.

"Just stay here with me, okay?" she said urgently, grabbing Zuko by his shoulders and giving him a little shake. "Don't do anything crazy."

"Stay here? I can't stay here! Your people will kill me, Katara! They will! As soon as this is over, _they will kill me!"_

She wasn't letting him go. Her hands were gripping him tightly now, trying to keep him there. She was looking at him with wide, hurt eyes. It made something wrench in Zuko's stomach. He wasn't trying to hurt her, but if he stayed with her, he'd die. Didn't she see that?

"No, they won't! I won't let them hurt you. I'll take you somewhere safe!" Katara insisted.

She normally said things like this whenever he'd expressed any consternation at his prisoner-of-war situation. He used to try to believe her. He knew she thought it was that simple. She'd always been an optimist.

But Zuko was a pessimist.

"There's nowhere safe for me!" he yelled, and he knew how true those words were. He shook her off and stepped away from her. "My father refused to negotiate for me. The tribe have no reason to keep me alive anymore. I can't go to the Earth Kingdom, because if they figure out who I am, they'll kill me too. There's no more Air Nomads left. Going back to the Fire Nation is my only chance."

"Don't do this, Zuko. Stay with me. We'll figure it out together."

Zuko had to turn away from her then. He couldn't look at her or he would lose his resolve. He started walking towards Aang.

"Don't take another step!" she ordered suddenly.

Zuko could hear her voice change. She wasn't pleading any more. She was furious. A large icicle sailed past his head. A warning shot. He turned back to look at her.

"We need Aang!" she yelled. "Otherwise your people _will kill us._ They want to wipe us out, Zuko!" She held his gaze like she was trying to stare him into submission.

Zuko wanted to go back to her and say he was sorry and hold her in his arms and pretend that their story could end happily. He wanted that more than anything. He didn't want to leave her like this. He didn't want to fight with her.

But he wanted to live more.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, and he was. He was more sorry than he'd ever felt in his life. "I'm sixteen, Katara. I don't want to die here."

Before he could get any more words out, something large, hard and cold collided with the back of his head.

Everything went dark.

-0-

She had to be quick.

Zuko was strong, fast and agile.

If she gave him a chance, he would get away and take Aang, then they'd all be lost. There was no talking to him right now. He was totally freaking out. He was too panicked. He wasn't listening! She hated hurting Zuko, but she didn't see any other option **.** A quick blow to the head with a lump of ice and he'd gone down like a sack of sand. He hadn't been expecting it at all.

She ran over to him as he fell. Sokka and Yue came running back a second later. They'd heard the shouting. Katara knew she made a dramatic picture, crying very extravagantly with snot streaming out of her nose and tears running down her face as she clutched an unconscious Zuko. She tearfully explained what had happened. Sokka didn't seem to believe her at first.

"No, he wouldn't," Sokka whispered.

Katara confirmed that Zuko would.

Sokka got angry.

"He really was a dormant volcano!" Sokka grumbled, mostly to himself. "Why do you always have to do the stupid thing, you giant idiot!" He turned to shout at Zuko's unconscious form, even though he knew the other boy wasn't going to answer.

Sokka was right that getting angry was a much better solution than feeling sad. It was easier to feel angry at this stupid idiot, who was making her cry over him. Enough of that. She angrily wiped at her face.

Katara started ranting about how stupid it was that Zuko was so sure the tribe was going to kill him when he must have known Katara would never let them hurt him. She could see the irony in complaining about this. She would have never let anyone else in the tribe hurt him, but she had just walloped him with an iceberg herself.

"Nah, Katara," Sokka said. "That's not the stupid bit. You didn't read the letter his dad sent back. _Ozai is a massive dick._ He pretty much double-dared Arnook to execute Zuko. I think they really were going to do it, too. You can't let an insult like that stand." Sokka turned to grumble at Zuko. "No, the stupid bit is _not talking to me!_ I could have come up with a way better plan! I'm the plan guy."

"Well, what's your plan now, plan guy?" Katara asked, trying to sound sassy instead of heartbroken, and putting on a brave face for her brother.

"Well, we have to find some place to hide him. It needs to be somewhere he can't easily escape, because he might wake up and try to snatch Aang again," Sokka said, thinking out loud. "So it can't be here or our house. I wouldn't take him back to his cell, because the tribe really will kill him. No, it needs to be a place where no one else in the tribe would think to look for him, that he can't escape from, but would be mostly safe."

Sokka turned to Yue to see if she had any ideas, but Katara already knew the perfect place. The Frozen Pit. Her heart sank to think of it.

Sokka and Yue volunteered to stay and protect Aang, who was slumbering in the spirit world, blithely unaware of all the drama that had unfolded around him in the last few minutes. Katara felt envious of him. She bent the ice under Zuko so she could easily move him and set off.

She started towards the horrible place Pakku had shown her this morning. Pakku had threatened to throw Zuko in there if she didn't break up with him, and she'd felt a fury towards the old man. Who was he to try and control her like that! He didn't get to choose who she loved!

Her heart had clenched at the thought of Zuko trapped in that terrible place. She'd decided that morning that if Pakku followed through on his threats, she'd do what she'd always done. She'd leave a note on her bed for Sokka and Aang and sneak down at night time to bust Zuko out. They could have found a way out together. They would have gone a long distance from the tribe before anyone woke the next morning.

Now she was the one dragging him to this terrible place.

Zuko thought that Tui and La had liked them, but Katara knew now that the spirits must have cursed them both with terrible misfortune if this was where they ended up.

She gently laid him against the wall, trying to prop him up so that he at least looked comfortable. Unbidden, she remembered the first time she'd done this for him. It was the day she'd taken the arrow out. He'd felt so cold from the blood loss, so she'd wrapped all their extra blankets around him. She hadn't known then how much this boy would come to mean to her or how much he could hurt her. It felt like her heart was cracking into a million pieces as she stood up to go.

She walked a little up the tunnel and started pulling the water in from the canal. She was blocking the entrance with ice when she heard it. A groaning noise from the other side. He was waking up. She started working quicker, making the ice between them thicker and thicker. After a few long moments, she saw fire flare on the other side of the ice. He must have been looking around the chamber. She knew the flames would illuminate her silhouette even with the ice between them.

"Katara, what are you doing?" he asked, sounding groggy and confused.

"I'm saving my tribe, you jerk!" she shouted savagely.

It had been so much easier to think fondly of him when he was unconscious. Now that he was awake, she felt the anger flare in her heart. She was _so mad_ at him right now. He drove her crazy. He would have tried to drag Aang out of here in the middle of battle. He would have left her to carry out his stupid plan all on his own.

"How could you!" she yelled through the ice, working faster, the anger making her hands bend quickly. "I trusted you!"

This was the root of her anger. She trusted him in a way she hadn't trusted anyone else. She'd given him her whole heart. He'd betrayed her. He was her boyfriend. He was meant to be on her side. He was meant to help her protect everyone. He wasn't meant to try absconding with her other friend in the middle of the night. She could see his shadow get up and he came over to the ice wall. He put his palms against it, trying to melt his way through, but she was quicker

"Katara, I'm sorry. Just listen..." he started to say after a moment. His voice was a little muffled from the thickness of the ice. It sounded like he was speaking to her from underwater.

"No. I'm not listening to you anymore. I don't want to see you ever again!"

It wasn't true, but she was angry and said it anyway.

She ran to the top and pulled up a huge surge of water. She froze the entire tunnel. She put so much ice between them he'd never be able to melt it.

-0-

Aang was woken to the most terrible stench ever. Yue was crouching over him, giving him a little shake to wake him.

"Eeuurgh, what is that smell!" he grumbled.

"Sokka's stink bombs," Yue said, sounding proud, though her tone quickly turned worried. "It means the Fire Nation is close."

Aang looked around. They were in a little gully. Soft grass was underneath them, and there was a tree above them. The water was trickling past. It looked like they were still in the spirit oasis, but just hiding behind the shrine. That was good. He was close to the pond, so he could protect the spirits when the time came. Koh had said they were in trouble.

"Where are my friends?" Aang asked.

Yue bit her bottom lip nervously. "Katara and Zuko aren't here right now, so Sokka has gone to defend us."

Just then, the unmistakeable sound of heavy boots marching in unison could be heard.

Sokka yelled, "Sneak attack!" from somewhere on the other side of the oasis. There was a loud series of explosions, and the stench was unbelievable. Aang jumped up, the stink clouds giving him cover. He landed behind the bushes and looked through the leaves. Sokka was standing tall in front of the pond, facing Zhao and a group of soldiers.

"A boy?" Zhao laughed. "Is this all the Northern Water Tribe leave to defend their greatest assets?"

"Sounds like you're scared I'll beat you!" Sokka yelled, goading Zhao and keeping his attention away from Aang and Yue.

Sokka threw his boomerang. He was going to fight Zhao even though he was a nonbender, and Zhao was a master firebender. It was the bravest thing Aang had ever seen. Suddenly, Zhao was knocked off his feet by a fire blast. He landed in an inelegant heap.

"You can firebend?" Zhao asked, looking flabbergasted as he stood back up.

"What? No! I can't firebend, you moron."

At that moment, Zhao was hit in the head by the boomerang returning.

"I did that," Sokka said smugly.

Zhao snarled and threw a blast at Sokka. Aang landed swiftly in front of his friend and deflected it.

"Welcome back," Sokka said, sounding relieved.

"Good to be back," Aang said with a smile.

"The Avatar," Zhao almost crooned, licking his lips in anticipation. "Surely Agni is blessing me with greatness tonight. I will be known as the man who slayed the moon spirit, crushed the Northern Water Tribe, and captured the Avatar all in a single evening."

He stepped closer. There was an eager, scary glint in Zhao's eyes as he looked around the Spirit Oasis. He knew Aang couldn't leave while the spirits were in danger. He had Aang effectively cornered.

"You won't get away from me now, and that traitor, Zuko, will not be able to help you this time," Zhao said in a soft, menacing hiss.

"No, Zhao."

A new voice came from behind the Admiral. Aang knew that voice. Zuko's Uncle!

Another fire blast knocked Zhao off his feet.

"You must stop this madness," Zuko's uncle said sternly, stepping out from behind the guards. "To kill a spirit is an abomination, and Agni would never bless such a horrendous act. The Fire Nation needs the moon too. I will not let you do this."

"General Iroh, why am I not surprised at your treachery?" Zhao said with disdain dripping from his voice as he stood up. "I'd like to see you try and stop me, old man." He threw a massive fire blast.

The fight was on. The firebenders were all just fighting each other, and for an odd second Aang felt _left out._ Shouldn't someone be trying to fight him too? He was the Avatar after all. He began throwing air blasts into the fray, while Sokka cheered him on. They moved closer to the battle.

Zuko's uncle was a wicked firebender. He'd taken out most of the guards with some crazy moves. Aang took a moment to watch the older bender in awe. Maybe he would teach Aang if Zuko and Jeong Jeong would not? He seemed to be on Aang's side, which was weird. But Aang would take it. Aang needed as many people on his side as possible.

That moment of distraction cost him dearly.

Zhao had left his men to face the general and had slipped past them, using the fire blasts as cover. He'd reached the pond and grabbed the Moon Spirit, shoving it unceremoniously into a sack before Aang or Sokka could stop him.

The moon turned red. The fighting abruptly stopped. Even Zhao's own men were looking at him in vague horror. They took their face masks off to stare at the blood-red sky. Aang could see it in their faces. The eerie red glow all around them was scaring them. They didn't want to kill the moon either. They agreed with General Iroh. These men knew the world needed the moon. They were not just mindless killers.

Perhaps Aang could reason with them, with Zhao. The monks had always said to never resort to attacking when you could talk to someone and find common ground. He'd been able to make friends with Zuko, and Zuko was the least friendly person Aang had ever met.

"Zhao, don't do this," Aang said, trying to sound confident and firm. "Look at what will happen. It will throw the world out of balance forever. We all need the moon. I know people from the Fire Nation—they're good people."

He was appealing to the other warriors here too. People in the Fire Nation weren't evil. He was sure of it. There had to be a peaceful way to solve this. He stepped closer to Zhao.

"I think you can be a good person, too. I know you don't want to do this."

"Oh, but I really do, Avatar," Zhao replied.

-0-

Zuko felt like he had been calling out for Katara for a lifetime. His throat was hoarse from shouting and his voice echoed around the empty cavern. Katara was so mad at him. He didn't know how to make it right, but he knew the first step was getting out of here.

His progress melting his way through her barrier was very, very slow. She'd put him in a deep cavern, and there was a huge amount of ice between them. Melting it was going to take ages at this rate!

He wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. Whatever this place was, there was something unsettlingly creepy about it. Every now and then, he thought he heard people talking in another cavern. Sometimes he heard crying. The first time he had heard them, he had gone to investigate, but found nothing. Still, he felt like eyes were watching him as he went back to the entrance. He made his fire burn brighter as he concentrated on melting a way out.

He was going to get out of here and make it up to Katara, no matter how long it took.

But she said she never wanted to see him again.

She must hate him now!

He deserved it. He'd been selfish. He'd betrayed her. He'd betrayed Aang. Sokka would probably hop on the betrayed bandwagon too and complain the loudest and be super annoying, but he would also be kind of justified. They were facing a hundred ship strong armada and Zuko had tried to take away their only hope of winning. Everyone was probably going to die tonight, not just Zuko. He could have fought beside them. If he was going to go out, he could have gone out defending his friends. Instead he was here, all alone, feeling trapped and cornered and guilty.

He had no one to blame but himself.

Suddenly, the ice blocking the tunnel unfroze completely. A huge amount of water splashed over Zuko. He was wet and shivering, but the entire tunnel was clear. He looked up hopefully. Perhaps Katara had come back. Maybe she had forgiven him. Maybe she wanted to rant at him about what an idiot he was. That was okay. Zuko would listen until she ran out of steam, then he'd tell her he was sorry.

He found no Katara as he climbed out. Instead, he found a world completely devoid of colour. There was no moon. There was a lot of screaming.

Something really bad had gone down. Terrible stuff happening to Zuko was just an ordinary Tuesday at this point, but even by his standards this was bad. It was only made worse by the sight of Zhao running along the opposite canal path. Zhao didn't even see him. He seemed like he was horribly afraid of something behind him. He raced past Zuko at top speed.

Zhao was the one who had convinced the Fire Lord that Zuko was a traitor. If Zuko could blame anyone else for this shitty, craptastic, fucked-up day, it would be that hedgehog-fucker. Zuko followed him, fists blazing, a familiar anger rising in his chest. Zhao had fucked up his life. While Zuko couldn't unfuck his life at this point, he could make that bastard pay for what he'd done.

He caught up with him on the bridge and aimed a fire blast just in front of Zhao, which pulled the man up short.

"You had me declared a traitor!" Zuko shouted as Zhao turned to face him.

"You _are_ a traitor. I know you are the Blue Spirit, and look at you now." Zhao looked Zuko up and down, taking in his dark blue Water Tribe clothes and his short hair. "You've gone _full Water Tribe_! You're a disgrace to the Fire Nation." Zhao assumed a bending pose.

"Go fuck yourself sideways!" Zuko snarled. "I did what I had to do to survive!"

They fought bitterly. Zuko's bending was far more versatile than Zhao's after all the training he'd done. He was younger, more furious and more agile. He could easily best Zhao, he realised with a jolt. He'd come a long way from their Agni Kai ages ago. But now he was deliberately dragging the fight out.

He couldn't help wondering what he would even do if Zhao yielded. What would that even accomplish? Beating the shit out of Zhao wouldn't make Katara forgive him or make his father not hate him. It wouldn't bring Zuko any happiness at all to leave a victor's mark on someone, even if that someone was Zhao. This violence was pointless. It wouldn't fix anything.

Suddenly, a fluorescent blue monster hand arrived to make the whole situation worse, because that was the sort of night it was.

-0-

Yugoda had been healing as rapidly as she could in her makeshift hospital out on the battlefield. Her sons had protested when she expressed that she was going to set up a healing station near the battle. They'd said it was dangerous. That was very much the point. It would be too far to expect injured warriors to drag themselves up to her house of healing with fire blasts all around. It was far less dangerous for them if Yugoda was closer.

Yugoda was old. She had lived her life. She wanted to defend her home and her boys as best she could.

Yugoda saw the terrible, raw power of the Ocean Spirit wreaking havoc on the Fire Nation soldiers still present in the city. She and the other waterbenders had all assumed full kow-tows as the Ocean Spirit surged through, and it left them be. The Fire Nation soldiers were not so lucky. Some of them fought back and were swept into canals. Some tried running or hiding, but the glowing waves rushed after them, sometimes forming hands to pluck them from their hiding places inside the buildings. The spirit dragged them all down. It was awe-inspiring and bone-chilling. It was a sight Yugoda would never forget as long as she lived.

The tribe had an old saying: _the sea gives and the sea takes._ Tonight the ocean spirit was only taking.

As she was at the canal, watching in horror, she saw the very last person she expected to find. General Iroh of the Fire Nation was running along the other side of the canal down to the harbour. What on earth was the Grand Lotus doing here now?

She called out to him, knowing she had a duty to save him if she could. She bended an ice path over the water and rushed to him, pulling him down into a kow-tow just moments before the Ocean Spirit surged past them. The spirit was moving through the town rapidly now, searching for something. She felt a mind numbing relief as it mercifully passed her, the Grand Lotus and her patients.

Yugoda asked Iroh what on earth he was doing there. A quick, worried conversation ensued. Iroh told her of what he had learned on the madman's ship and about his determination to save the spirits. He told her of what had happened in the Spirit Oasis, and lovely Yue's tragic sacrifice. Yugoda listened, wide-eyed.

"We must get you out of here as quickly as possible," she whispered urgently. "You need to take Zuko with you now!"

Yue was beloved by everyone. She was lost to them because of the invasion. There would be no forgiveness or mercy for anyone from the Fire Nation come morning, only bitter retribution.

"Zuko is here?" Iroh exclaimed, his mouth dropping open in shock.

"He's been here for some time. He came with his friends many weeks ago. Did you not know?"

A vast array of emotions passed over Iroh's face. "I need to find him."

Yugoda ducked back into the healing tent and took a large blue cloak. She told her novices that she would be back as soon as possible. She ran back and threw the cloak over Iroh so he would better blend in.

"Where would he have gone?" Iroh asked her, sounding anxious.

"He'd be with his girlfriend, Katara."

"Zuko has a lady friend?" Iroh sounded unreasonably excited, given their situation.

"Yes. They're very sweet together," Yugoda replied indulgently.

Yugoda had no idea where they would go, though. She had never taken it upon herself to follow them and investigate. She explained this to Iroh, feeling sorry, but he was looking past her and across the city.

"He's there," Iroh said suddenly, pointing at the flashes of fire coming from lower in the town.

They rushed towards the lights. As they got closer, Yugoda could make out Zuko. He was fighting against an older firebender. They seemed caught up in their fight and hadn't noticed that the Ocean Spirit had come up behind them. They saw the glowing spirit hand take the other firebender. Zuko tried to help the man, but to no avail. The other man was going to join his countrymen at the bottom of the ocean.

Zuko leaned over the bridge, staring at the canal where the man had disappeared, looking so lost. Then he saw them and wrinkled up his nose in confusion.

"Uncle? Yugoda?" He sounded baffled at seeing them together.

He didn't even notice the Ocean Spirit reform behind him.

-0-

"Zuko, watch out!"

"Behind you!"

Zuko rubbed his eyes and looked again.

It really was Yugoda and his uncle. They really were there together.

He hadn't cracked it.

He'd been half worried that he'd suffered one to many blows to the head tonight and had started hallucinating. Suddenly, his uncle broke into a sprint and ran for the stairs. Yugoda was still yelling at him to look behind. Zuko whipped around, only to see the Ocean Spirit monster bearing down on him.

Could this horrendous, horrible day get any worse?

It could.

Of course it could.

Everything could always get worse!

Aang was suspended inside the glowing, blue belly of the beast. The spirit had obviously eaten Aang, and now it was going to eat Zuko.

Holy balls, was he actually going to die by being eaten?

That sucked!

Zuko looked closer at Aang. His eyes were vacant and empty. He looked like he was in some kind of trance. Maybe Zuko could wake him up? Zuko was probably going to get eaten (that was just how his luck was going today), but at least he could try help Aang before that happened. He started shouting at Aang to wake up.

This seemed to annoy the Giant Koi Monster. It stared at Zuko. It looked like it was frowning. Zuko wanted to rush forward and help his friend, but he felt frozen to the spot by the spirit monster's eyes. It could have killed him in an instant, but it wasn't even reaching for him. It was just looking.

Zuko returned the spirit's gaze. Suddenly he saw the ocean everywhere. It was lapping at the beaches of Ember Island, raging against the black cliffs in towering waves, kissing the icebergs around the South Pole. He saw storms, typhoons and hurricanes, and the days where the sea sparkled like a million sunbeams, and even rarer, the days when the ocean was as flat as glass and looked like a mirror to the sky.

He felt like the Ocean Spirit was trying to tell him something. It was something about love, balance, justice, mercy and the way things really were. But Zuko couldn't hold all that inside. He couldn't keep whatever this wisdom was. There was too much ocean. It made his head hurt. He turned away and clutched his head in pain. Encounters with the spirits were said to drive people mad, and this was probably why.

No human could hold the whole ocean inside.

Suddenly, Zuko was tackled from the side and dragged off the bridge and into the alley. He was enveloped in an enormous, warm hug. He smelled smoke, tea and old spices.

Uncle.

"Zuko. You're here? How are you here? Why are you here? Never mind that, you're safe now. I've got you. You make me so worried, you know that? I feel like I have had at least eight heart attacks in the last three minutes because of you. Why did you not stay in the village, my boy? Have you been hurt? Have they been treating you well? You've cut your hair? Why have you cut your hair? Have you..."

Uncle was just smushing his face against his chest and asking Zuko a million questions, but he wasn't letting Zuko get a word in edgewise. This kind of shit used to annoy Zuko, but this time he didn't struggle against the embrace. He hugged his uncle back fiercely. Zuko had missed the old man so much. His uncle was his family, his home.

"Iroh. I hate to interrupt, but we really must be going," Yugoda said from behind his uncle.

"Of course, Yugoda. You are quite right. Lead on."

Zuko was released and he looked around. The Ocean Spirit had gone, like it had never been there at all. He hoped Aang was okay. Zuko wanted to go find Aang and help him, but he was overruled by Yugoda and Iroh. Yugoda reassured him that Aang would be fine and the Ocean Spirit would not harm him. Iroh agreed with her whole-heartedly. They smiled at each other over Zuko's foolishness for thinking his friend got eaten. They were looking very fondly at each other, like they'd been friends for years.

What the hell was _this_ now?

"How on earth do you two know each other?" Zuko asked abruptly, narrowing his eyes.

How did the two old people he liked best in the world know each other? How were they even friends? You weren't meant to be friends with people from the Water Tribe if you were from the Fire Nation. They were on opposite sides of the war, for goodness' sake.

"All old people know each other, didn't you know?" Yugoda joked.

It wasn't a real answer, but Zuko decided to leave it. He could see this wasn't the time to badger her for answers. He resolved to find out from his uncle later. There seemed to be an overwhelming time pressure at the moment. Yugoda started rushing off, and Zuko and Uncle followed her quick pace. He didn't know where they were leading him, but he knew his uncle wouldn't lead him into a trap, and he didn't think Yugoda would either. She'd always been good to him.

On the way, the two old gasbags started conspiring amongst themselves and Zuko couldn't track half of their conversation. They were talking a great deal about bloody Pai Sho, of all things. If there wasn't time to answer Zuko's questions, then there certainly shouldn't be time to discuss bloody Pai Sho strategies!

They came to an abrupt stop at a little harbour. There was a makeshift raft floating there. Yugoda seemed a bit shame-faced and apologised. She said it was all she could do at such short notice. It didn't look like much, but it was sturdy and sea-worthy, she said diffidently.

Sea-worthy?

Did Yugoda expect them to leave in that thing?

She evidently did.

Uncle gave her a hug and whispered, "Thank you, Yugoda. For everything. How can I ever repay you?"

"Repay me by keeping yourself and Zuko out of trouble. You have no idea how long I have spent healing this one." She clapped Zuko on the shoulder. "And I'll not see all my hard work go to waste, you hear me?"

Uncle climbed on the rickety death trap and held his hand out to Zuko, urging him to get on. Zuko looked back at Yugoda and the city of the Northern Water Tribe.

He was leaving? It was so sudden. If he left like this, he'd never get to tell Katara he was sorry. He'd never get to say goodbye. She'd hate that! She was already angry enough with him as it was. He didn't want to piss her off further. Yugoda seemed to sense his hesitation.

She pulled him into a hug. "I'll miss you, my lad, but you have to go now. The Ocean Spirit chose to let you live, so live is what you must do." Then she held him at arm's length and smiled at him encouragingly.

"Yugoda, can you do something for me?" Zuko said, as he reached into his boot.

"What?"

"Can you take this?" He handed the old woman his knife.

Katara had refused to take it when he had tried to give it to her on her birthday, but she wouldn't be able to give it back now. Zuko wanted her to have it. He wanted her to know it really was a message from him.

"Can you give that to Katara, please, and tell her..."

He trailed off. There was something he had wanted to say to Katara for a while, but he'd been waiting for the right moment. If he said it, he'd never been able to take the words back. He knew he'd never get over it if Katara didn't feel the same way. But he had waited too long, and now he'd never get the chance.

He was socially awkward about all this love stuff, but even he knew that he couldn't ask Yugoda to pass that message on. He knew there were some things that were so important that you had to say them yourself, face to face.

Katara probably wouldn't want to hear it from him now, anyway. She was still going to be mad at him for a little while and he wasn't going to be around to make her feel better. But he knew what he would have said to her to try making it up to her. Yugoda could pass that on.

"Tell Katara that I'm sorry. Tell her I'm so fucking sorry and ashamed of what I did. Tell her I'll miss her, and I never meant to hurt her, and I would have stayed with her forever if I could," he said finally, feeling like the words were just pouring out of him.

"Mmmm hhhhmmmmm. I'll not say the swear word, but I'll pass on the general sentiment to the girl you always insisted wasn't your girlfriend." Yugoda raised her eyebrow at him in that knowing way of hers.

"Yugoda, I can't believe you're taking cheap shots about that now," Zuko grumbled, a bit offended.

Then again, it was typical. If he knew one thing about people from the Water Tribes, it was that they all liked to sass him endlessly.

"Sorry, my lad. I couldn't resist," Yugoda said cheekily, then pulled him into a second hug. "You take care of your uncle, you hear me. He needs you so much," she said in a low voice so only Zuko could hear her.

"Okay."

Zuko gave her a last curious look before he climbed on the boat next to his uncle. Yugoda pushed them out into the ocean with her bending. Zuko kept his eyes on her until she and the city behind her vanished into the mists.

-o-

Rambly notes:

Huge, massive and gigantic thank you to the gorgeous Boogum for the beta. Incredible thanks to everyone who reviews! I do love hearing your thoughts!

So this was my take on Seige of the North. Thanks for joining me on the rollercoaster. Events were changed a bit by Zuko's presence, but tragically Yue still sacrificed herself. I also think the secret mission would have been cancelled after they found out the uselessness of their 'disguises'. So Hahn lived too.

However a big difference is obviously the way the Spirit Oasis goes down, with Sokka being left to defend it on his own for a brief moment and using his ingenuity and Sokka-ness to protect Aang and Yue. Sokka's actions really are one of the bravest things Aang has ever seen. It will make a big impression on him and his respect for non-benders.

However the big thing I wanted to talk about what my two favourite drama llamas and how they came to be separated for the start of book two. I'm going to follow the structure of the show roughly, and so Zuko needed to split from the group and reunite with his Uncle at this point. He still has things he needs to learn from traveling with Iroh.

Zuko and Katara's fight and their own choices are what separates them. Also a huge battle and the fact that they are on opposite sides of a war. But mostly because they both screwed up. They both had an internal flaw that I wanted them to be to learn from, especially when it came to communicating with each other.

Zuko is reckless, and at this point, I'll not say selfish, but he is self-focused. He doesn't see the big picture as much as his own personal goals, (in this case, the very understandable goal of not being killed) and this prevents him from properly seeing things from someone else's side when he is disagreeing with them.

Katara can been a bit high-and-mighty sometimes and she can over-react big time. She is so sure that she knows the right way to do things (also understandable) and can be very forceful about getting others to agree with her view. She doesn't listen properly when the other person isn't onboard – she's just waiting for her turn to speak so she can change their mind.

They both lash out/shout things when very upset.

The upside of all this drama is that during any future disagreements, they are going to take much more care at seeing the other person's side and listening properly. They are both going to realise what they did wrong and be better able to fight for their relationship, rather than fighting each other, in the future.

But this separation is going to be hard for the both of them. I'm not going to lie there. I'll be driving a dramatic teenage angst train in their POVs for the next few chapters until they meet again. There will be teenage pining, and crying and drama. They are going to miss each other a lot.

Pakku would have been keeping and eye on Katara at the wall. Katara wasn't going to bow to Pakku's threats, She was planning on running away with Zuko if it came to that. But she also wasn't going to court Pakku's retaliation either, so she would have waited until Pakku was properly busy and she was given another role, before she slipped away to get Zuko.

Zuko, who had been left on his own for ages, knowing his time was up and knowing the bombardments had started, panicked and clutched at the only semi-decent idea that came to him. He's had the explicit threat of execution hanging over him for a while now, but it would have felt really real then.

So they still fight in the Spirit Oasis, but it goes down very differently. I went through a couple of drafts of this, but I couldn't see Zuko seriously raising his hand to Katara at this point in their relationship, especially given how conflicted he was feeling about his own actions. However, I could see Katara slapping him with an ice-block in desperation/frustration.

The Frozen Pit came into the play here. The ice Katara forces between them is symbolic of this rupture in their relationship and Katara's tendency to cold-shoulder people who piss her off. Jeez, it's a metaphor for their not-love.

Katara's biggest gripe is her feelings of betrayal, and abandonment. Zuko, however, has some inkling about the depths of her abandonment issues – hence his big hesitation to leave the Northern Water Tribe without saying goodbye when Yugoda gives him the opportunity. This is why he is much more vocal with Yugoda when he gives her his knife/message and confesses a lot more than he probably would have in normal situations.

Zuko has had an encounter with the Ocean spirit – partly for future ramifications and partly because I was a bit curious as to why Zuko survives the ocean spirit. This is my go at explaining it. Aang is not in control at all during the Seige of the North. The ocean spirit takes all the firebenders. It just sweeps them away and into the water with big waves. It attacks the ships indiscriminately. It then gets oddly choosy when it comes to Zuko and Zhao. We're going to explore a bit more about the ocean spirit in later chapters, but I just wanted to flag it as relevant now.

Next chapter will deal with the aftermath of the siege – a wrong conclusion will be jumped to, and Pakku will learn an important lesson in not being a dick.

Til then, lovely readers!


	16. After the Siege

Sokka was slumped at the table like his sadness over Yue was a weight pressing down on him. Aang was lying exhausted on his bed as Katara went about making breakfast. Aang went right back to sleep after he'd eaten, and she tucked him in. She convinced Sokka to come out and help her assess the damage and rebuild the city. He always liked being occupied and she thought sitting alone in the dark wasn't the best idea for her brother right now.

Sokka was put on the recovery expeditions to all the Fire Nation wreckage in the bay. The tribe was salvaging items that could be useful, and Sokka knew his way around a Fire Nation ship. It was a grim job, but Sokka agreed without protest.

Katara was given the job of filling in the holes and craters caused by the bombardments. They were smoothing the walls and making them stronger. She also liked being occupied when she was out of sorts. She gave the task her full attention, because anything was better than thinking about _that stupid idiot_ right now. She started shoving the snow and ice into the holes with great alacrity.

Take that, wall!

She finished her sections quicker than others. Nukka suggested that she might be more use down by the front barrier wall, as that had taken the most damage. The front wall was the most difficult to fix. The masters in Orca Group were assigned that job. Katara knew that Nukka meant this as a compliment.

She went down, glad to have another job. She was still angry. She needed to give the idiot a good long time to feel really bad about what an idiot he was. She was planning on going back in there and just _shouting at him for the rest of their lives._ He was going to hear such a rant! She wasn't going to kiss him for at least a week! Between the ranting, she was going to cold shoulder him so much he'd need an extra parka.

But then he'd be so sad. He'd make that face at her, like a kicked baby seal. He was probably making that face right now. She'd left him all alone in such a dreadful place. She tried to push away her feelings of worry and concern and guilt about the idiot.

No, she wasn't going to feel bad for locking him in that awful place.

The worst thing was that no one was worried about the fact that he hadn't been in his cell this morning. No one was looking for him or even mentioning him. He'd been so sure about the tribe killing him, but obviously they would have just let him be. It made her want to groan in frustration. All of that had been so unnecessary!

Why did she have such an over-dramatic boyfriend who always jumped to the worst conclusions and did stupid things as a result?

Was this Tui and La's punishment for their frolicking in the oasis? Was she cursed to love him no matter how stupid he could be?

Sokka came back around lunchtime. They took a break together, sitting on the newly rebuilt wall with the other benders. Arnook, Pakku and Hahn came past to check on their progress. They wanted to know what Sokka had found. Sokka said that they had been able to salvage lots of useful items from the boats that were only partially sunk, and handed over an itemised list. He'd always been a big fan of lists.

Hahn took a step closer to Sokka. Katara moved to place herself between that jerk and her brother. Hahn was the last person Sokka needed to see right now. The top secret mission had been cancelled when they found out their disguises were no good. Hahn had been bitching about having his "glory" stolen by Sokka extensively since then.

"Any uniforms?" Hahn asked.

"No. We didn't find any," Sokka replied.

"Well, you're just not looking hard enough," Hahn said crossly.

"Hahn, this is hardly the time to be taking that tone with our most respected southern guest," Arnook admonished. "What do we need Fire Nation uniforms for now? They are hardly going to try attacking us again after such a resounding defeat."

Arnook had lost his daughter. He was still trying to keep it together in front of everyone to help keep morale up. But his sorrow and his anger crept into his bitter tone. You could hear it when he spoke.

"The firebender laughed at me for wearing the old one," Hahn spat, and Katara felt her gut clench at the way he mentioned Zuko. "He said they're so old that they are only in museums in the Fire Nation. We may need more uniforms in the future." He smacked his palm with his other fist soundly as he spoke. "We should never again underestimate how vicious the Fire Nation is."

"If you want new uniforms so badly, maybe you can come on the boats with us and look," Sokka replied, sounding miffed. "Not much good it'll do you. We didn't even find any bodies for you to steal from anyway."

Pakku's tone was matter of fact. "Well, we won't find any bodies either. We saw the Ocean Spirit take all the fighters that were in the town. It's safe to assume that most of the men from the Fire Nation fleet are also at the bottom of the ocean now."

"The Ocean Spirit cleansed us of their filth," Arnook said. "It could sense their savage bending and dragged them all down. No less than they deserved after what they did to the moon, and my Yue..." His voice broke and his face was raw with grief.

Pakku placed a hand on his shoulder and led him away. Hahn followed. The warriors from Orca Group were solemn and silent for a few moments after that display of emotion from their chief.

"I feel a bit bad for Zuko, though," Sorak, one of the benders, piped up to break the silence like a sledgehammer. "He was alright for a firebender. He didn't deserve to go out like that."

Katara felt her heart stop.

There was a murmur of agreement from the other warriors. Men Katara only knew from descriptions of their jewellery were saying things like, "Poor bastard" and "Hope it was quick for him."

Sorak looked at the others, emboldened by the murmurs of agreement. He smiled sadly. "I'll never forget the way Hahn's feet went up over his head when that bastard crash tackled him. Just seems sad to me that he got taken out with the rest of his people."

A horrible realisation settled in Katara's stomach like a stone. That was why no one had been looking for him? They thought the Ocean Spirit had drowned him with the others.

Katara exchanged an alarmed look with Sokka.

"I think somebody should say something," Sorak said, then prodded Kuruk.

Kuruk was the oldest and seemed to be their unofficial leader. All the Orca Class warriors looked expectantly at him. Kuruk hated talking in public. Pakku had once said his reluctance to do so was why Kuruk had never advanced to a proper leadership role. Kuruk glanced at Katara and Sokka, then sighed before standing up and going to the edge of the wall.

"La, Great Ocean Spirit, we give you Zuko," Kuruk said gruffly as he looked over the newly repaired walls and into the ocean. "He was a stubborn, grumpy, sarcastic firebender, but he wasn't a bad kid."

Sokka stood up at that moment. He made an excuse for them really rapidly, sounding a little distressed, and pulled Katara to her feet. They walked a distance until they were alone on the walls.

"Frozen hell! Zuko!" Sokka's eyes were wide. "I was so focussed on Yue, I didn't even think."

"Sokka, he's okay. I left him deep enough in the pit. The Ocean Spirit wouldn't have got him," Katara said, trying to sound certain.

That _had_ to be what happened. _He was still there_ , she was sure. She still had to shout at him. There was a lot she wanted to say to him. She had a whole speech planned.

"I'll go check on him now," she said, feeling an overwhelming urgency to see her idiot. She bitterly regretted not checking on him this morning. She'd wanted to give him the cold shoulder, but that seemed so petty now.

"Bring him back to the house when you get him. It'd be fine now. No one is looking for him."

She nodded and ran as fast as she could until her chest hurt. Worry built up in her belly, which only increased when she found the entrance wide open. All of her ice had melted. There was no way that Zuko could have melted all that. Not in a morning. _It would have been nothing to the Ocean Spirit,_ she thought with dread.

She ran down into the tunnel she'd left him in.

It was empty.

At first she simply didn't believe it. She refused to believe it. She told herself he might be hiding from her in one of the other tunnels. She checked them all, her panic rising the whole time. This wasn't happening. She'd find him any moment now. There hadn't been a single sign of him, except the slightly melted ice around where she had first created the barrier. He'd been trying to escape, even though it would have been futile.

Cold horror washed over her.

What had she done?

She'd trapped him in here. The realisation shattered her heart into tiny pieces inside her chest.

Then Ocean Spirit would have surged into the frozen pit. It had taken all the firebenders, after all. It could just _sense_ them, Arnook had said. This place would have filled up with water and he wouldn't have been able to _do_ anything. It would have been _awful_ for him.

He was a strong swimmer. He'd saved her brother from drowning in the middle of storm. He was such a fighter. He never gave up. But the awful truth settled like a cold, hard lump in her belly. Not even Zuko could fight the ocean.

He was _gone._

And it was all her fault!

She climbed up the entrance to the canal where he would have gone in. She plunged her hands into the frigid water and reached out with her bending to the full extent. Maybe she could find him and bring him back up to the surface.

Maybe it wasn't too late.

She could do that Fire Nation trick, the kiss of life _._ She'd simply kiss him and he'd come back to her. She started praying to Tui and La. If the ocean would give him back, she'd never be angry at him again, she promised. Her heart twisted to think that the last thing she'd ever said to him was that she never wanted to see him again. It hadn't been true at all, but it seemed that La was holding her to that all the same.

" _I'm only sixteen, Katara. I don't want to die here."_

She walked back into the central chamber of the frozen pit and looked around at the unforgiving ice, dropped to her knees, and sobbed. She wailed her misery, regret and heartbreak into the pit.

It had always been a place of despair.

-o-

Pakku had taken Arnook to Yugoda, thinking that a calming conversation with their master healer could help his friend. But Yugoda was run off her feet and there was no calming conversation to be had in the healing house. It was packed to the brim with injured warriors. His men had been well trained and ready. Their casualties had been significantly less than they expected, but it still made for a crowded healing house the day after battle.

Yugoda demanded he send Katara up. "Whatever you've got her doing, she's more useful here."

Pakku could see the sense in this. Pakku made his way back to the barrier walls, only to find Katara strangely absent. It wasn't like her to shirk her duty. He asked Kuruk where she had gone.

"She went off with her brother when we started talking about Zuko," Kuruk explained. "I think they were sad about their friend."

Pakku walked off, feeling worried now. He checked the oasis and found it empty. He checked their house and found the Avatar sleeping in an exhausted slumber. Aang was roused by Pakku poking him sharply with the tip of his boot, but the boy fell promptly back to sleep a moment later. Pakku continued on. There were so many jobs that needed his attention, but Katara was more important. He felt a quiet and unfamiliar worry in his heart.

Finally, he checked the last place he wanted to visit again. He could hear muffled, hopeless sobbing coming faintly from below the entrance. To his eternal shame, this sound coming from the frozen pit was not unfamiliar. Telling himself that he did not believe in ghosts, and steeling himself against the horrid atmosphere of the place, he stepped into the tunnels. He found Katara at the bottom, arms around her knees, sobbing her heart out.

Pakku felt guilt twist like a koi fish in his belly. He hadn't wanted them together, but he hadn't wished Zuko any harm either. He hadn't wished Katara to feel this kind of sorrow.

Pakku was normally very happy to avoid crying women. He had been told by Yugoda that he only made these situations worse. Still, he wanted to help Katara if he could. Thankfully, she stopped when she heard his footsteps. She stood up and started wiping her face rapidly, trying to compose herself.

"Katara, what are you doing in here?" Pakku asked, aghast.

She had been crying over her boyfriend and chose this dreadful place, out of everywhere, to privately express her grief. Still, this excessive crying kind of proved Pakku's point for him. Their relationship was futile and pointless. It would have always ended like this. She was lucky it ended sooner, before she got too attached. Everyone recovered from heartbreak eventually. It just took time, in Pakku's experience.

Katara was young, yet she had all the time in the world to forget him. She'd get another, more suitable boyfriend, he was sure. She had many options. There were plenty more fish in the sea. He was not good with this much female emotion, but he felt that explaining all this logically would help.

Katara listened with an unreadable expression on her face. This worried Pakku. He had normally been able to tell what the girl was thinking. She wore her emotions so readily on her sleeve, but today she seemed numb. The bright, blazing spark had gone out of her eyes.

"I will get back to work now, Pakku," she said, her voice brittle but cold as ice.

She said nothing else to him as she walked past and began climbing towards the entrance. She did not acknowledge that he had just found her crying her eyes out. She barely acknowledged him at all.

She returned to fixing the walls. Pakku found himself following her. At least she was choosing to take her excessive emotions out in a constructive manner now. He congratulated her on this show of maturity, but Katara didn't respond to him. She only glared angrily at him. It reminded Pakku of when he first knew her and tried to make her apologise in the council hall. Somehow, her expression now was worse. It was cold and unrelenting as the tundra in midwinter. Pakku felt the wriggling tendrils of doubt in his mind.

He had made a mistake with Katara somewhere along the way.

Katara repaired the walls with a brutal intensity, forcing the snow into the cracks with such briskness it unnerved Pakku. It was as if the damage to the walls had personally offended her. She resolutely ignored him for the rest of the day.

Pakku understood then that this was his punishment. She would not confide in him now, not after the way he had threatened her boyfriend. This didn't seem fair. He had just been trying to be a good grandfather. It was not Pakku's fault the boy had been killed horribly by the Ocean Spirit not long afterwards! She was going to blame him for it anyway.

She might never forgive him at this rate.

-o-

Sokka was sorting through their things and re-packing everything. His instincts told him they should leave. Katara was practically a master bender now. She could teach Aang on the road. Aang wasn't going to make good progress here anymore, not when surrounded by reminders of the huge amount of _crazy spirit rage_ he'd unleashed.

Sokka didn't want to stay here surrounded by reminders either. Everything he looked at reminded him of Yue. He started looking at his map of the Earth Kingdom and trying to figure out the best way to Omashu. It was better to move forward.

Zuko would be especially keen to get the hell out of this place. They'd have to figure out a way to sneak him on to Appa, and he was going to bitch and moan about whatever plan Sokka came up with for that, but Sokka was a man of his word. He'd promised they'd all leave here together, and now they were.

Katara came back much later. She didn't have Zuko with her. Sokka took one look at her face and very rapidly realised what that meant.

Oh man.

She cried then. Sokka held her until her sobs subsided and tried to keep his own tears under control. It wasn't manly to cry, but he'd lost his girlfriend and his good friend all in the one night. If he were ever allowed, now would be the time, but he needed to be strong for his sister. Only one of them could be a basket case at any given time. He'd had this morning to do that. This evening was evidently Katara's turn.

They tried to be quiet because Aang was still asleep in the next room. The Avatar State always took it out of him. He'd been exhausted for days after the Southern Air Temple incident. Last night was the longest he'd ever been in the Avatar State and he'd done a whole lot more than just throw a tornado tantrum on a hilltop.

Oh jeez. Aang!

Sokka was going to have to tell him.

This would kill him, and Sokka wasn't having anyone else die on him right now.

"We can't tell him," Katara said solemnly.

"We can't just not say anything. Aang is going to notice Zuko's ... not around. He's not _that_ oblivious!"

"If Aang knows what he did while in the Avatar State, it'll just tear him up inside. He loved Zuko, and now Zuko is dead because of him. He won't be able to get over it. He's going to blame himself."

She wasn't wrong.

Sokka had often disagreed with her tendency to shield Aang from the truth and sugar-coat everything. But Sokka was also well acquainted with Aang's tender-hearted, vegetarian, pacifist ways. He'd never want to use the Avatar State again if he knew. As awful as it was, Aang would need to use the Avatar State eventually if they were going to have a hope of ending the war.

"What should we tell Aang then?" Sokka said. "He is going to ask."

"We could just say he got away and he escaped before the battle," Katara said. It seemed like she was deliberately not saying Zuko's name now.

It didn't feel right. Sokka felt like Zuko deserved more from them.

Zuko hadn't thought it was a good idea to unleash crazy-mega-destructive spirit powers in the first place, but he wouldn't even be able to enjoy his _I-told-you-so_ moment. Frozen hell, he wasn't ever going to roll his eyes at Sokka and say, "I fucking told you so" again. He wasn't going to insult Sokka's fighting style, or show Sokka how to knee jab, or make a sarcastic comment about Sokka's hygiene or ... anything ever again. Sokka would never speak to him again.

He'd never even be able to ask Zuko what was really going down during "training" now. Sokka had his suspicions about his two idiots ever since he'd found them training together. Something was _askew_ in Katara's insistence that it was just training. Neither of them was engaged to an arsehole. They were so obviously moon-eyed for each other. Seeing each other every night and "training" surely would have led to … _something._

Was Zuko really _that awkward_ at relationship stuff that nothing happened?

Possibly.

Sokka had been his first kiss after all.

Sokka had been hoping to ask him about it, but had been waiting until he could talk to the guy alone. Sokka would have been called a nosy jerk and probably a hedgehog-fucker too, but he knew Zuko would have told him the truth. He'd always been stupidly honest. It was one of the things Sokka had liked best about him.

Sokka couldn't ask Katara now. That would only rub the salt in.

They had both lost the person they were moon-eyed for last night. They needed to have each other's backs, not second guess each other. Katara needed Sokka to help her construct an elaborate _parade of lies_ to protect Aang. She didn't need Sokka to make her feel worse.

Katara wasn't suggesting the _parade of lies_ because she didn't care. She was going to be a giant, moping avalanche of sadness about this, Sokka could already tell. Protecting Aang had always driven her. Still, Sokka thought protecting Aang from knowing _this_ was going to be hard for her. She'd never been good at hiding her feelings when it came to Zuko.

He worried this would come back to bite them in the arse.

-0-

The truth always came out eventually. There was only so long you could dance around a subject and give someone vague non-answers when you were trapped together on a tiny raft with nothing else to do and the person asking you the questions had the determination of his nephew, Iroh lamented.

Zuko had started asking him how he had known Yugoda not long after he got up. He would not be swayed from this topic. Iroh eventually capitulated. He told Zuko maybe a little more than he should have, considering Zuko was uninitiated, but there was only so much Iroh could conceal given all that his nephew had seen.

Also, there was the fact that many of his agents had immediately assumed Zuko was in the White Lotus and revealed delicate pass phrases to his nephew. This was very inconvenient for Iroh.

"So, let me get this straight," Zuko said slowly. "You and Yugoda are in the Secret Old People Flower Friends club and you've know each other for years?"

"We actually don't call it that."

"And the Flower Friends are a super sneaky, secret society that have the vague goal of maintaining balance in the world."

"Balance is crucial," Iroh said sagely.

"And the Flower Friends are all obsessed with Pai Sho, and you use the game as a code to communicate to achieve the goal of maintaining balance. You and Yugoda have been sending each other furtive ' _Pai Sho strategies'_ for years."

"Pai sho is an excellent game, Zuko," Iroh reminded him.

"And every old person who ranted about flowers at me is actually in you secret Flower Friends club?"

"Well, that is most likely. You haven't told me who spoke to you about flowers. It is possible that some of them are just botany enthusiasts."

"Is Pakku one of your flower friends?" Zuko asked, but it sounded like an accusation. Iroh knew they hadn't gotten along.

"Yes …"

Honestly, when Iroh saw Pakku again, they were going to have to have a conversation which Pakku was not going to like.

Zuko thought for a minute before his eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, holy hell! Jeong Jeong as well?"

"Also yes," Iroh said, more proudly this time.

Jeong Jeong was one of his oldest friends. That over-dramatic old curmudgeon had been the one to initiate Iroh and introduce him to the cryptic arts. It had been one of the things that had saved him after losing Lu Ten.

"The innkeeper in that shit-hole town you wanted me to stay in?"

"That town actually has many lovely attractions, which would have kept you busy."

Zuko crossed his arms and scowled in response.

"Yes. Him too," Iroh confirmed.

"The crazy fortune teller? Uncle, did you let a fortune teller into your club?" Zuko sounded aghast.

"I think you already know the answer to that."

Zuko was quiet for a few more moments. Iroh breathed a sigh of relief. It was only four people. He had been half worried that all of his agents in the west coast of the Earth Kingdom had been tripping over themselves to reveal top secret passcodes to his nephew.

"I can't believe you lied to me," Zuko muttered, then looked away from Iroh.

There was a disgruntled silence. Zuko seemed rightly upset that Iroh had been actively concealing so much from him. But he wasn't shouting or stomping about, thank goodness. Stomping would have been very inadvisable given their current predicament on the raft. Still, Iroh had been well acquainted with his nephew's temper and moods. This reaction was quite subdued for him. Perhaps it was because his nephew was clearly so tired.

"Zuko, you should rest now. A man needs his rest," Iroh said gently.

-0-

"You did not send me Katara this afternoon, you old grump!" Yugoda harrumphed at Pakku, who was standing gloomily around her door.

Was he waiting for her? Well, he could wait a little longer. She wasn't going to deal with his problem until she had made herself a tea and sat down, no matter how sad he looked. She'd had a huge day and had been completely run off her feet. Pakku could wait until after her tea.

He miserably followed her in with a forlorn expression.

"Pakku, you look wrung out," she said, trying to sound gentle, even though it sounded more like a scold. She made him a tea, too, and brought it over. "What are you doing hanging round my door at this time of night?"

"Yugoda, I need your advice."

She nearly dropped the cup in surprise. "You need my advice?" Incredulity was evident in her tone. She felt like she should savour this moment.

"I made a mistake. I need to know how to make it right or Katara will never speak to me again," Pakku said, sounding sincere. He did care about that girl, the granddaughter of his long lost love, in his own gruff way.

"Tell me what you did first," Yugoda said as she settled down into the chair opposite.

She was prepared for a tale full of high-handed, domineering stupidity. It was Pakku's special blend. She listened, disappointed but not surprised at what he had done. Honestly, only a complete idiot would think saying, "I forbid you to see that boy!" would be a useful way to talk to a teenage girl in love. It had been cruel and stupid. Yugoda frowned at Pakku.

"Such a mean old man," she chided him, interrupting. "He was a good lad. They were sweet together."

"He was sullen and petulant and disrespectful. He did not deserve her," Pakku said defensively.

Yugoda rolled her eyes. Typical Pakku. He didn't seem to know how to respond to this disrespect and looked at her with wide eyes. She motioned for him to continue his story. She had a terrible feeling there was more emotional density ahead.

"Pakku! What have I told you before?" she admonished when he had finished. "Never speak to crying women. You only make it a hundred times worse!"

Pakku insisted that he had been trying to help.

"Let me get this straight. You think you are _helping_ when you say to Katara that you forbid her to see her boyfriend or you will throw him to a fate worse than death. Then you feel personally inconvenienced when you assume he has died promptly afterwards. You find Katara grieving. You decide to tell her firstly that you are glad her relationship ended with her boyfriend dying horribly, because you think it was a stupid and futile relationship to begin with."

Pakku looked like he wanted to interrupt, but she held up her hand for silence.

"Next, you tell her she will forget him and get over it soon. Then you go on about how she needs a Water Tribe boyfriend. Finally, you say there's plenty of fish in the sea and start listing potential new boyfriends for her—a list which included Hahn, whom she loathes, because _he is single now_?"

It was all terrible, but that last bit was especially callous.

"I was desperate. She didn't seem interested in any of the other boys in the tribe, and Hahn was the only one I hadn't mentioned."

Yugoda waved him off again. Pakku had the emotional depth of an eggcup, but anyone with the emotional depth of a teacup or larger would have quickly surmised the reason for Katara's disinterest in the other boys at this particular juncture. She had loved Zuko, and Zuko had loved her. Those two could deny it until penguins flew, but Yugoda knew what had been going on. None of Pakku's "logic" would make it any less true.

"You're _surprised_ that Katara is angry at you and does not wish to speak to you?" Yugoda concluded. "After all that?"

Pakku shifted uncomfortably. "It sounds bad when you say it like that."

"It sounds bad because it was _dreadful._ Honestly, if I were Katara I would have slapped you. I'm rather surprised she didn't."

"She seemed too sad to fight."

Ah! Even Pakku with his eggcup level of emotional depth could figure that out.

"What have I told you? Send any crying woman you encounter to me!" Yugoda let out a frustrated huff. "I really wish you had done that today. You could have saved everyone a great deal of upset! Zuko's not even dead. I could have told her that."

Pakku expressed some surprise at this, but Yugoda had already gotten to her feet with a sigh and started gathering her things. Her long day was not over. She was worried now after hearing of Katara's unnecessary grief. She couldn't leave the healing house when her patients needed her today, but her failure to pass on her message had caused Katara a great deal of heartache.

"I am going to Katara's house to let her know. Do not come, Pakku. You really will only make it worse," Yugoda said, shaking her head as she strode out.

She didn't want poor Katara to be subjected to any more of Pakku's brand of "helping". He had actually thought it was appropriate in that moment to instruct the poor girl that she needed to procreate with a waterbender so she could pass on her incredible genes.

 _Goodness gracious._

But it was too late at night by the time Yugoda arrived. Katara, Sokka and the Avatar must have all been sound asleep when she knocked gently on the door, as there was no answer. She did not want to wake them. They needed all the rest they could get. Yugoda would tell her in the morning.

Pakku was still at her house when she returned, hoping she would have a solution. He asked how he could make Katara forgive him.

"In all honesty, Pakku, you have really treated the girl quite terribly. I don't know if she will forgive you any time soon. You certainly can't _make_ her."

Pakku was unhappy with this answer.

"You can't control her or how she feels, Pakku. Women don't like that. That's the whole problem up here," Yugoda said bluntly.

"I didn't—"

"Let me speak." He had asked her for her advice and he was going to hear it. "Kanna left because she did not want to have you controlling her for the rest of her life. Katara is the same. If you want her to forgive you, then you have to earn it. You must make a _real change_ to the way you treat the women around you."

-0-

Aang felt lethargic and gross the first few times he woke up. One time, he swore he woke up to Pakku poking him with his boot and leaning over him like a giant, judgemental praying-mantis.

The first seven times he woke up, he promptly decided that it was a much better plan to go back to sleep. The eighth time was the charm. He felt better and clearer. He got up and stretched like a cat before walking softly out into the main room.

Katara and Sokka were sitting in front of the fire. Sokka was looking at some maps and Katara was sharpening a knife very carefully. They'd been talking in hushed tones when Aang entered. Katara gave a small yelp of surprise when she saw Aang. Sokka jumped up a little.

"Aang! You're awake!" Sokka said.

"How long have I been asleep?" Aang asked.

"Since the siege," Katara replied evenly.

"Wow." That had to be the longest Aang had ever slept for, save the iceberg.

"How are you feeling?" Katara asked, sounding a little wary and concerned at the same time.

"Pretty good," Aang said cheerfully, and sat next to Sokka. "Where's Zuko?"

"Zuko's..." Sokka trailed off, focusing on his map for a second.

"He escaped, Aang," Katara said firmly. "He got out before the battle started, while you were in the spirit world."

"Well, that's good, I guess," Aang said, really trying to sound cheerful.

It didn't really sound like Zuko. Zuko normally ran towards the danger, in Aang's experience. Still, it was definitely for the best if he'd made it to the Earth kingdom since everyone on all sides seemed to want to kill him here. Aang should be happy, not sad, that he had gotten away.

Zuko had been one of his people. Aang thought he'd be able to keep all his people together this time. But he couldn't. A good friend would be happy his other friend wasn't dealing with worrying about whether he would be executed or not. That had stressed Zuko out.

Still, he'd promised Zuko he'd find him in the Earth Kingdom so they could lift his banishment. Surely, Zuko would have told Sokka and Katara where he was going so they could find him again?

Katara said a little uneasily that she didn't know where he had gone in the Earth Kingdom. She glanced at Sokka. She probably felt bad about forgetting to ask him.

Sokka told Aang it wouldn't be easy to find Zuko again, because the Earth Kingdom was huge. He said "Don't get your hopes up" a few more times than Aang thought was necessary. Sokka pointed out that Zuko had always found them in the past, so they'd just have to wait for him to turn up.

Sokka also said that, now Aang was awake, they could all leave tomorrow. Pakku had declared that Katara was a master waterbender when Aang had been sleeping, so she could teach him on the road. That made Aang's heart a bit lighter. He would prefer to learn from Katara than Pakku. It would be great to spend time alone with her again. He sometimes daydreamed about it being just him and Katara together.

He loved Sokka and Zuko, but those two had always been around, squabbling and wrestling and making sarcastic comments and eating weird meat products, then having ridiculous eating competitions with their meat products. It had made it hard to tell Katara how he really felt with all that _noise_ going on in the background. Sokka couldn't make that much noise on his own.

At least there was the bright side to their friend leaving them.

There'd be an empty space in the saddle, but Aang was trying to find the positive.

Still, Aang couldn't help but think that it would be weird going back to just the three of them.

0-

Katara felt like she had cried all she could, and it wasn't enough. She felt so alone. The world was dark, cold and empty. No one was going to make it warm and bright again.

There was no one she could talk to about this. Aang didn't know. Sokka had tried to be logical and talk about their future plans. He was pretending he wasn't horribly sad. She knew that was his way of trying to be strong, but it was stupid.

She felt the sunlight streaming through the window on her face, and got up. She was happy to leave her bed. She'd had nothing but nightmares of _him_ all alone in that terrible place and then the water coming in. She pushed those wretched thoughts away harshly.

She'd go fetch the ingredients to make their breakfast, because somebody needed to do that. Then she was going to go back to the frozen pit to have another huge cry, because somebody needed to do that too.

Katara was very surprised to see Yugoda waiting outside her house. She felt instantly wary. The last time she had woken to a waterbending master waiting outside her door, it had led to one of the worst days of her entire life. Her hands clenched when she thought of Pakku.

If she hadn't been so worried about Pakku's threats, she would have gone to collect _him_ so much earlier. Perhaps _he_ wouldn't have been so panicked. They would have had more time together at least. They might have found another way.

 _He_ might still be here if it wasn't for that bitter old man.

Just to rub the salt in, Pakku had been the one to find her yesterday. It still made her angry, thinking about what he had said to her.

Perhaps a less heartbroken Katara would have challenged Pakku to a fight, just for the joy of slapping him across his face, but what would be the point? Even if she could beat up Pakku, it wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't bring _him_ back to her.

Pakku's suggestion that she could just forget _him_ , then replace _him_ with one of the dickheads from Seal Class or, even worse, bloody Hahn, made her look at Pakku in a new light.

He really didn't know her at all.

She'd been trying so hard to earn his respect and his goodwill, to make him change his ways and see things differently. She had thought they were teaching each other. But he had never been learning from her. He hadn't seemed to change how he thought of girls at all. He'd said that girls' emotions were fleeting and constantly changing, and that was why they needed men to make choices for them, to control them. He'd never stopped thinking this. It didn't matter that Katara had nearly mastered waterbending or that he saw her as a granddaughter. She was a still just a girl who needed to be controlled.

Now, she no longer cared what Pakku thought and she wasn't shy about showing him.

"What a hedgehog fucker!" _he_ had said whenever they spoke about Pakku. She felt the corner of her mouth lift up in the ghost of a smile. _He_ would have approved of her cold-shouldering Pakku.

Now Yugoda was here, and Katara felt uneasy. It wasn't really Yugoda's fault, but Katara was done with listening to anyone in the Northern Water Tribe.

She didn't want to stay here without _him._

Sokka was right. They had to get out of here as soon as they could.

"Katara, dear girl." Yugoda said, pulling her into a hug.

She felt enveloped in a warm, soft parka that smelled of different liniments. Katara was startled. Yugoda never hugged her. She hadn't been hugged like this since Gran Gran said goodbye to her at the start of autumn. She was stiff in the old healer's arms.

"I have something to tell you," Yugoda whispered in her ear, "but we cannot discuss it here. Follow me."

Without any further explanation, she started walking away, just expecting Katara to follow. They ended up at Yugoda's house.

"Make yourself comfortable," Yugoda said, but it sounded like an instruction and not a request.

Before Katara knew it, she was sitting in a comfy chair with a cup of tea and a biscuit firmly placed in her hands.

"I have something for you." Yugoda held out something in her hand.

Katara recognised it straight away. She saw the ebony handle, the inscription, and the well-made blade. It was _his._ _He_ always carried it with him. How had Yugoda gotten this? She looked at the old woman in astonishment.

"Zuko wanted you to have it," Yugoda said gently.

She took Katara's teacup and biscuit from her and placed them on the table softly. This had been a good idea. Katara's hands were shaking and the tea had been splashing out everywhere. The knife was placed in her hands. Katara gripped it tightly before turning it over and examining it.

 _Never give up without a fight._

Her fingers traced the inscription, and she felt the ghost of a smile on her lips. Of course Zuko would like an inscription like that. The knife had seemed so _his,_ like it was a part of him. Zuko had tried to give it to her before, and she hadn't let him. She remembered that night so clearly.

" _I've got to give you something and this is all I have!"_

Now, it had come back to her. She gripped the handle of the knife tight and fastened it to her belt. She was keeping it safe this time. She'd have a little part of him forever now.

"I don't understand," Katara said, disbelief and hope warring inside her. "He's alive?"

"I helped him and his uncle escape the city safely. I could hardly let anything dreadful happen to your favourite _patient_ ," Yugoda said with a gentle twinkle in her eye. "Zuko gave it to me before he left. He wanted me to give it to you when I passed on a message, so you could be sure it was really coming from him."

He'd said the same thing to Katara when he'd tried to give the knife so she could pass a message onto his uncle. Her stomach lurched from feeling nervous and excited.

"What message?" Katara asked, hearing her voice shake with fragile hope.

"He wanted me to tell you that he was sorry and ashamed of what he did. Very sorry. He said a swear word to describe how sorry he was, but I won't repeat that," Yugoda said with a slight frown. "Honestly, I've told him a thousand times, I really don't think he should be using language like that."

It was the exact same disapproving face she had made the one and only time Zuko had sworn in the healing house, the day he had broken his wrist. Katara let herself believe the old woman was telling her the truth. The horrible, heavy weight in Katara's belly felt a lot lighter suddenly. A smile was dawning on her face.

"Zuko also wanted you to know that he would miss you and that he never meant to hurt you. He said he would have stayed with you forever if he could," Yugoda finished with a gentle, knowing smile.

Katara felt something warm, delicate and soft blooming in her chest. A powerful wave of fondness, longing and regret surged through her. Zuko was alive. The world was a brighter, less lonely place again.

"Thank you," she gushed as she got out of her chair to hug the older woman properly. Yugoda had saved him. Katara would be forever grateful from the bottom of her heart.

Yugoda gave her a fierce hug. "Mmmmmm mmmmmhhhhh," she said, before holding her at arms' length just to make _the face_ at her. "I thought it was a rather interesting message to come from someone you always insisted was just _a friend."_ There was a wicked, teasing look in her eye. She seemed very pleased with herself.

"Yugoda!" Katara exclaimed, scandalised. The old woman had always loved teasing them, but was this really the time?

"Go on, you can tell me. Zuko was much more than a friend, wasn't he?" Yugoda asked in that same cheeky tone.

"He was my boyfriend," Katara found herself confessing.

Zuko wasn't here to be hurt by any ramifications from the tribe and she could finally say what was in her heart. There was no one else here to judge, only Yugoda, and she'd always been good to them. But boyfriend didn't seem to cover it. It sounded so flippant.

Zuko was ... more. He was the first person she wanted to see when she woke up. Whenever anything happened, she had wanted to tell him straight away. If ever she was sad, he would comfort her. He made her laugh. He listened to her. She'd always felt like she could just be herself around him. They'd understood each other.

"He was my best friend," she added, and that seemed a little better, a little more fitting.

"I knew it!" Yugoda crowed.

It seemed to make her day, being told that she had been right in her suspicions.

"You two were always so ridiculous about denying it whenever I caught you canoodling. That wasn't fooling anyone!" Yugoda said, laughing loudly.

Katara felt caught up in the incorrigible old lady's mirth. She felt lighter, warmer and better for finally telling someone.

"Yugoda, where is he now?" Katara asked. She wanted to see him so badly.

"His uncle said they would try their luck in the Earth Kingdom. Beyond that, I don't know. I am sorry."

Oh.

The Earth Kingdom was huge.

Katara felt a little crestfallen. She'd never be able to find him now. He was alive, but he was still lost to her. Katara might never see him again. Yugoda took her chin in her wrinkled hand and smiled warmly at her. There was no teasing in her eyes now, just sincerity.

"Take heart, Katara. If you two are meant to be together, I'm sure you'll find him again."

Oh, how Katara hoped that was true.

-0-

"I spy," Zuko said for what felt like the thousandth time.

"Is it the ocean again?" Iroh asked gently, always patient.

There was a long pause.

"Yes."

"Rather than play I Spy, why don't you tell me all about your girlfriend, Katara?" Iroh suggested.

Zuko had a girlfriend. Despite their woeful situation at present, the idea made Iroh feel excited for him. He'd always wanted to Zuko to know happiness, and Yugoda had said through their complicated code that Zuko had seemed unnaturally, creepily cheerful while he was dating Katara.

Zuko had been cheerful? Iroh couldn't imagine it.

"Uncle! I don't want to talk about it. Can you just stop asking!" Zuko grumbled.

"I have so many proverbs about love. Would you like to hear some?"

"No."

"How about …"

"I have an idea. Would you like to tell me more about the Flower Friends? Roughly how big is this secret flower society you were hiding from me?" Zuko said, looking at Iroh suspiciously.

The White Lotus had become an awkward subject between them. Zuko seemed to be getting his head around the magnitude of the lies Iroh had been telling him. It was obvious he was thinking on it a lot. Every now and then, apropos of nothing, Zuko would say something like, "The day with the pirates, you didn't really lose your tile, did you? You just needed to see a Flower Friend in that town."

Iroh's answers were always vague, and Zuko was clearly finding it frustrating.

"We actually prefer being called the White Lotus," Iroh corrected.

It had been a mistake to insist on this, but Iroh was down a path now. Zuko knew how much Iroh wanted him to use the group's proper title and seemed to be taking some juvenile satisfaction in always calling them _Flower Friends._ Iroh hoped that eventually Zuko would get over this and respond to his patient corrections.

"Is it just you, Pakku, Yugoda, Jeong Jeong, an innkeeper, that dude in the town, and a crazy fortune teller exchanging wacky Pai Sho scenarios and having a laugh or are there more people?" Zuko asked for the tenth time.

Iroh was out of excuses. He knew the answer would anger Zuko. He was silent for a long time while he thought of the best response.

"Uncle?" Zuko asked again. He wasn't going to let this go.

"Oh, I am so tired. I may have a rest now too," Iroh said after a second. Retreat was the best option at this point.

"Really, Uncle?" Zuko said incredulously as Iroh lay down.

Iroh did not reply.

"Uncle, you can't just pretend to be asleep and not answer me!"

It was going to be a long float back to the Earth Kingdom.

-0-

End of Book one

-0-

Notes:

Hello lovely readers.

Enormous thank you to Boogum for the beta. She's fantastic!

Huge thank you to everyone who responds! I love your feedback.

So this is the end of book one. I was originally planning on splitting the story into three parts – So it didn't look so incredibly long when I looked at the word count. Book two would be called _the illusion of separation._ I may still do that, or I may keep it all together here. I'm still tossing up about it.

This chapter mostly deals with falling action from the siege, and sets up stuff for book 2.

So I shamelessly used "We thought you were dead!" trope in this chapter, to help Katara recognise a few things. In my first draft Katara didn't find out for another few chapters that Zuko was definitely alive. When I finally came around to planning and writing this story out I just couldn't...it was too mean to her. So she only thinks he's dead for a day here – but goodness would that had been enough. There would have been so much bitter regret and grief going through the poor girl!

I just wanted to clarify that Zuko was planning on breaking out of the North Pole with Aang, lifting his banishment, and then returning Aang to the safety of the North Pole, before returning to the ship. He wasn't going to hand Aang over to the FN. I don't think he'd deliberately betray them that way after everything. I don't know if I made this clear enough based of some responses to the last chapter. I'll see if I can expand the terrible plan paragraph to make it clearer.

It's a pretty terrible plan, but Zuko would have been clutching at straws. Katara would have been furious at him, but I wouldn't put in on the same anger level as after Ba Sing Se. However, for the day when she thinks the result of her actions was gruesome blob-monster death for her boyfriend, she would have been beyond heartbroken. It helped clarify her feelings. She was angry at him, but she still loved him, faults and all. His faults are very similar to her faults after all – they are both impulsive and tempestuous.

Katara would have recognised panicked desperation for what it was, and bitterly regretted the way she reacted, even if she didn't see any other options at the time. When she was talking about Aang loving Zuko and never getting over it, she would have been projecting hardcore.

Also they both got to realise that taking their anger and grief out on proxy people/lashing out does not help their situation. Zuko realised last chapter that hurting Zhao would not bring him anything he wanted. Katara realised that no matter what she did to Pakku, it wouldn't bring her boyfriend back to her. This is an important lesson for both of them.

Pakku has been scolded by Yugoda, and he is going to have to make some real changes – but now he is much more motivated to do so, now that he has 'lost' Katara's affection and respect. He is going on his own journey of discovery, because frankly he needs to leave the North and see a bit more of the world to grow. I also don't think it needs to be Katara's job to teach him, because that girl has enough on her plate already.

Aang also needed a more personal motivation for really looking at what happened at the North. I feel like he never really thought about the fact that he occasioned the death of hundreds of people during the Siege of the North.

When he hopes on his little soapbox during the Sozin's comet arc, and went on about how he would never do anything to hurt a fly ever, I was confused. Did I imagine the Seige of the North? The Buzzard wasp? The fact that less than 10 episodes ago, Aang was okay with breaking into the palace and killing Ozai? Anyway, I like Aang, and I would prefer to chalk this one up to either sloppy writing, or a lack of self-awareness and self reflection – as opposed to deliberately hypocritical obstinacy.

Aang has never _really thought_ about these things deeply, because they are very unpleasant and he avoids them, like he avoids most things he finds unpleasant. However, when _the parade of lies_ collapses and he realises that Sokka and Katara both assumed he had murdered Zuko through ocean spirit mojo, he is going to want to find out for himself and really examine what happened. He will face the unpleasant head-on.

Iroh's secret is out. Zuko now knows about the white lotus well before he did in canon. It is actually a huge secret that Iroh kept from him. It's not going to escape Zuko's notice how a massive, international network of spies and agents could have really helped him during his three years of fruitless searching, but Iroh said nothing.

Zuko loves his uncle, but a lie of omission of that magnitude is going to affect how he sees his Uncle and their relationship. There is so much love and affection there, but there is also perpetual grumpiness, and the ability to leap to the worst conclusions and a tendency to lash out (Zuko's) and a literal ocean load of secrets and obscure proverbs (Iroh's). Their growing conflict over the secrets will help them appreciate and communicate with each other much better.

Next chapter Zuko will confide in Iroh, Azula will show up, a parade of lies will collapse, and Sokka will be perpetually stressed. Until then, lovely readers.


End file.
